Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Moon Officers
by Fanficaddict12
Summary: After the destruction of the moon, Pokémon grew violent. Outlaws and wild Pokémon began appearing at every turn. Bullet, a Treecko who claims to be a human, and Marta, a Snivy, join the ranks as Pokémon Officers in order to set the world straight, as Bullet slowly begins to realize the role he will play in the safety of the Pokémon world.
1. A Grand Adventure Begins

**Rating: **Rated T, for violence, blood, language, and safety.

**Genre: **Adventure, Friendship, slight Drama, a tad bit of Humor.

**Summary:** PMD3. After the destruction of the moon, Pokémon grew violent, outlaws and wild Pokémon appearing at every turn. Bullet, a Treecko who claims to be a human, and Marta, a Snivy, join the ranks as Pokémon Officers in order to set the world straight. But just who is Bullet, and will the World of Pokémon ever be the same?

**A/N: **I've been working on this story on and off for a few months and finally decided to finish a few chapters. If this story is a bit sappy at time…it's Pokémon, so it should be normal. So, enjoy.

* * *

The siren rang throughout Treetop Village in the dead of night. The Pokémon that inhabited this village were rudely awakened. The villagers sprang out of their beds and blocked their doorways, as this alarm meant that an outlaw had just escaped from Magnezone Prison.

In the shadows of the night under the broken moon, special officers gathered together after hearing the alarm. "Smeargle, who escaped?" a Pokémon growled, upset at having to get out of bed.

"I haven't the foggiest idea. I took my eye off the outlaws for a second and the alarm went off!" the Smeargle said, embarrassed at this fiasco he caused.

"You were probably working on one of your stupid paintings. Look at what they've caused!" another Pokémon hissed.

"Hey, one day those paintings are going be worth millions of Poké someday, Raichu!"

"This is serious, Smeargle! The chief of police is gonna be pissed!"

"I already am. ZZZT!"

The three officers jumped when they heard the voice of the chief of police Magnezone. They twirled around to face him, stiffening. "Magnezone, sir, we-"

"Be quiet. ZZZT! Special Officer Smeargle, Raichu, and Zangoose, quit loafing around playing the blame game and capture the escaped outlaw! ZZZT!"

"Y-Yes sir, Chief!" the three saluted simultaneously.

"No need. I can capture him myself," said a shadowy figure.

Everyone turned around to see a Pokémon in the shadows, and instantly recognized the shape of the shadow. Zangoose glared at the figure. "Well, if it isn't the Legendary Officer. I thought you were busy capturing Infernape."

"I caught him easily." The figure sighed. "I come home after a whole week of being gone and I find out this place has gone to hell during my absence."

"We did perfectly fine without you-!"

"Silence Special Officer Zangoose! ZZZT!" Zangoose obeyed the chief of police begrudgingly. "Legendary Officer, do you know where the escaped outlaw is? ZZZT!"

"He ran out of the village, sadly. I got a good look at him though. It's Bidoof again."

"Of course," Raichu groaned. "This is the seventh time that slippery Pokémon escaped!"

"I'll capture it. I'll be back." The Legendary Officer dashed out of the forest like a flash of light.

* * *

The lonely Snivy roamed through the trees, a drop of water from a leaf above her hitting her nose. She gazed up into the cloudy sky, wondering if it was going to rain again, until she found the source of the water. She sighed and continued to wallow in her misery as she continued through the forest.

She immediately ducked in cover as a group of Pidgey hovered over her. They were probably just passing by, but she couldn't be too careful. Sure, she had taken on a Pidgey or two in her time, but with those kinds of numbers she would become bird chow. Best she just keep her head down and keep on trudging.

Honestly, she didn't know where she was going. In fact, she barely remembered where it was. Maybe in the middle, or to the right…It was hopeless. It was completely wiped out.

"Today makes year five…" she sighed. She plopped down on the forest floor, leaning against a tree, mourning for all of those lost that faithful day five years ago…like every year.

She questioned why she did this every year. It probably wasn't healthy to keep wallowing in the past like this, but it was so hard to forget. All those images were still burned into her brain. Every time she closed her eyes she could see them running…it was all too much.

Her sorrow suddenly turned into rage. Rage about the fact that she couldn't stop it. Rage about the fact that she couldn't even find the strength to do anything about it. She was just too big of a coward. With all of her might, she blindly punched the tree she was just leaning on.

Just at the moment, a Pokémon that was apparently sleeping on a branch fell due to the punch, falling on top of the Snivy, making her fall face-first in the ground. The Snivy lifted her head and groaned. "Maybe next time I should think before I punch…" She didn't even know she had the strength to shake an entire tree.

Slithering out from underneath the Pokémon, she got up and dusted herself off. She indentified the Pokémon as a Treecko. The Treecko didn't get up, so maybe it wasn't asleep. Did it faint? Did it just come out of a battle? That couldn't be, it didn't even have a scratch on it. Maybe a bump to the head? The Snivy nudged it a bit to try and wake it, but with no luck.

It was at that moment the Treecko started to mumble to itself. "Where am I…?" It didn't know where it was? This is Tamira Forest, everybody knew that. Maybe he was a traveler? Or…a bad Pokémon? "…Who am I?" It…It didn't even know who it was! Oh, what was a Snivy to do?

The Snivy paced around a little, wondering what she should do. Should she be Good Samaritan and bring this Treecko to her home? It looked like a good Pokémon, but it was pretty hard to tell with Treeckos. Besides, it didn't even know who it _was. _So any chance of it remembering it was bad would be wiped from his memory, so there was that…

"OK, think Marta. Think!" the Snivy mumbled to herself, rubbing her temples. Eventually, she came to the decision to ask questions when the Treecko woke up. For now, she had to bring this Treecko to shelter, before something came along and gobbled it up, or worse (Even though she couldn't think of a worse death than being eaten)!

Marta dragged the Treecko by its tail to her home. Though it wouldn't be easy to get it there. Why? Well…her house was in a cave…behind a raging waterfall at Floatzel Lake.

Lucky for her, there were stepping stones behind the waterfall leading to the cave. She put them there herself. It took her almost a day or two to get it perfect like that. Now, normally this would easy, but she was lugging around a Pokémon about the same weight as her. There was no way she would be able to jump on all those stepping stone without accidently dropping the Treecko and cracking it's skull open on the stepping stones. OK, maybe that was just a worst case scenario, but still…

The only possible way to avoid this probably was to swim to the cave. It seemed pretty easy at first, but Marta lost energy quickly with the Treecko on her back. With as much speed and strength that she could muster up, she swam to the cave.

Her home wasn't too far from her village, and it was an average little home. There was a basket full of food and other essentials in one corner, some straw in another, and in the middle was her bed fashioned out of the straw. She practically threw the Treecko into her bed, and made another one with the remaining straw she had left. Exhausted from lugging the Pokémon around, she fell into her new bed, taking a little nap.

When she heard the Treecko stirring, Marta woke up and hovered over it.

The Treecko opened his eyes, his head pounding. He was greeted by a Pokémon he had never even seen before, hovering over him and smiling. Where was he? "Hey, are you OK?" The Pokémon asked.

It was at that moment the Treecko's eyes snapped open. He screamed in terror as he backed up into the wall. "Y-You can talk!" he shouted in disbelief.

A talking Pokémon? Impossible! Well, he had heard rumors of a talking Meowth once or twice, but not a talking…whatever the heck that was!

Marta gave the Treecko a confused look. "Um…Yeah, I can talk."

The strange Pokémon tried to approach him, but he just inched away, back still to the wall. "B-But you can't talk! I shouldn't understand you! A human can't understand a Pokémon!"

Marta was completely lost. "Uh…What're you talking about? You're a Treecko, and I'm a Snivy, so we should be able to talk to each other."

Treecko? What was this Pokémon talking about? Now that it mentioned it, the cave he was in looked pretty big, and this Pokémon was the same size as him. He looked at his hand, and nearly had a heart attack. It was big and green and only had three fingers. Three large, stubby fingers, to be precise.

He ran toward the waterfall at the exit of the cave, and was able to see his reflection in it. However, instead of seeing himself stare back at him, he saw…A Treecko! "WAAAH! It's true! I'm a Treecko!" The Treecko held his head, trying to take all this in.

Marta just watched the Treecko and stared at it as if it were insane. "…Did you hit your head hard or something?"

"I-I dunno!" The Treecko shouted. "I…I can't remember a thing!"

"Sounds like you hit your head to me."

"L-Listen to me! I'm not a Treecko-I mean I am, but I'm not supposed to be! I'm supposed to be a human!"

Marta frowned in confusion. "A, um…human? That can't be, there are no humans in this world. Only Pokémon. Are you just pulling my leg or something?"

"NO!" The Treecko took another minute to accept all of this. A world filled with only Pokémon? Him, a Treecko? How did he get here? He had no idea…he didn't even know who he was. "Um…Do you remember your name?" the other Pokémon asked.

_My name?_ the Treecko thought. Honestly, he didn't remember his name. But he couldn't just tell it – or her (it sounded like a girl to him) – that. So he took it upon himself to come up with a temporary name for himself for the time being. "Um…my name is…Bullet." He smiled. _Bullet…Sounds like a nice name._

"Alright Bullet, my name is Marta. Nice to meet you." There was a bit of an awkward silence between the two, until Marta spoke up. "Um, why don't we go for a walk? Maybe that'll help clear your head."

"Yeah…That sounds good."

Bullet followed Marta out into the forest. He looked up and saw some clouds parting in the afternoon sky. They wandered around the forest for a few minutes before Bullet decided to break the ice. "So Marta, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of Pokémon are you again?"

"Well, I'm a species from a faraway place. I'm a Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon. As of now, I'm an endangered species."

"I see…"

Marta stopped, and so did Bullet. "Bullet," she began, "are you seriously a human? You're not trying to trick me are you?"

"I'm not tricking you, honestly!" Bullet shot back. "Why don't you trust me?"

"I'm sorry…" Marta sighed. She should learn to be more trusting of other Pokémon. Being suspicious all the time probably isn't the best way to live. "It's just that more and more bad Pokémon have been springing up lately," she continued.

Bullet blinked. "Why's that?"

The bushes behind the duo suddenly started to shake. The two backed away from it, more alert, unsure whether whatever was in it was friend or foe. A Combusken emerged from the bushes, collapsing in front of the two. They were quick to come to its side.

"What happened?" Marta asked with a concerned tone.

The Combusken lifted its head, only able to keep one eye open. "That Bidoof…I underestimated it…" It took him a minute to realize that two Pokémon were huddled around him. "You two! Please help! An outlaw…An outlaw attacked us, and he took my little brother! He should still be nearby…Hurry, before he hurts him!"

Bullet shot up and leered into the forest. "Marta, let's go," he said, not giving it a second thought.

"B-But…" Marta wanted nothing more than to help this Combuskin, but...She was too much of a coward. That's why she couldn't even find the guts to become an Apprentice Officer…

"No buts! Come on!"

Bullet immediately took off to the forest. Marta stayed in place, paralyzed with fear. She scowled at herself for not being able to join him, and for being foolish for not believing him. She pushed aside her cowardliness and ran after Bullet.

Meanwhile, the outlaw known as Bidoof, who was two times as fat as a normal Bidoof I might add, was running with all his might into an open area in the middle of the forest, holding a captive Torchic, who was sobbing violently. The Bidoof put his hand (paw…whatever it had) over its beak, trying to shut it up. "Quiet down! If the Legendary Officer catches me I'm a dead Pokémon!"

Bidoof started to pace around, a million things running through his head. "Why is the Legendary Officer after me? I would have through it would've been a Junior Officer or something, but…Oh man, I'm so dead!" He turned to the Torchic with a wicked smile on his face. "But not if I use you as a hostage."

"BIG BRO!" Torchic shouted, only to be silenced by Bidoof.

Bullet and Marta happened to hear said scream and ran to the source. Marta was paralyzed once again when she saw the outlaw. This was it. Could she really fend off a dangerous outlaw? She forced herself to speak up. "H-H-H-Hey! Y-You!" _What was that! That was intimidating at all!_ Marta scolded at herself in her mind.

Bidoof nearly jumped at the sound of a voice. His nerves were calmed down when he saw they were only two harmless Pokémon and not the Legendary Officer. He glared at the two "What? Scram, kids! Before I make you!"

Marta was taken aback, but still stood her ground. "W-We…Y-You…You let that Torchic go or I-I'll…I'll…"

Bidoof started to laugh, and Marta just stared at the ground. _I knew I couldn't do it…_ she thought.

"Oh ho ho! This is rich! You two really think you can stop me?" Bidoof continued to laugh.

Bullet looked Marta and saw how much she was hurting. He couldn't stand back at watch this charade for any longer. He barely knew Marta, and he was just getting used to being a Pokémon, but he had to do something. Besides, she helped him, so now it was his time to return the favor.

He stepped forward. "Hey!" he called out.

Bidoof glared at him. "What?"

"You really think you're all that tough? I've seen Magikarp more threatening than you." Bullet said with a sly smile. Marta looked at him with wide eyes. _What's he doing!_ Marta thought.

Bidoof glared daggers at the Treecko. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. You dare call yourself an outlaw? Look at you. Eaten a bit too many Gummis have you?"

Bidoof gritted his teeth. "I eat an appropriate amount of Gummis! I'm big-boned! And besides, Gummis make you smarter, doofus! Maybe you should eat more of them!"

Bullet rolled his eyes. "Whatever, _Bidoof_. What kind of threatening name is Bidoof anyway?" He laughed mockingly, and Marta couldn't help but join in.

Marta saw what he was doing. He was trying to raise her confidence to fight. And it worked. She was ready to take anything, as long as Bullet was by her side.

Bidoof, on the other hand, was steaming mad. His face was red, he was snarling, and they could've sworn smoke came out of his ears. "YOU…WILL…DIE!"

Bidoof charged at Bullet head-first, using the move Headbutt, but he was able to easily dodge it. Instead, Bidoof hit a nearby tree. He groaned, shaking it off, but this left him in the open. Bullet used this opportunity to use Pound on the Bidoof.

Bidoof got up and dashed toward Bullet once again, this time preparing to use Hyper Fang. Bullet once again skillfully dodged it. He was amazed he was doing this good in battle, despite never being in a battle before. Bidoof instead bit into Marta who was behind Bullet at the time. She screeched in pain. Marta slammed Bidoof into a nearby tree constantly (which was pretty hard considering his weight) until he retracted his teeth. He followed his attack up with Headbutt, which flung Marta into a tree.

Bullet spat seeds out of his mouth, using the move Bullet Seed, but the seeds just bounced off the Bidoof's lard. Bidoof took his attention off Marta and started attacking Bullet. Bullet fended him off until Marta got the strength to get up. By that time, Bidoof knocked Bullet to the ground.

Bidoof was about to finish the Treecko off until Marta intervened. The leaf on Marta's tail began to glow green. She dashed toward the sleeping Bidoof. When she got close enough to him, she twirled in the air, before sweeping down, slashing him with the leaf. Marta landed down gracefully, finishing the move Leaf Blade, before Bidoof fainted.

Bullet clapped for Marta, which caused her to smile. "Great work, Marta! I knew you could do it!" he cheered.

"You're not half bad yourself, being a human and all." Marta's playful smile turned to a frown. "Listen, I'm really sorry about not trusting you earlier. You forgive me right?"

Bullet smirked. "Water under the bridge."

Bullet and Marta turned to face the sobbing Torchic in the corner. They ran over to comfort him. "Hey, it's OK. Bidoof won't hurt you anymore." Marta assured him.

"Thank you…" Torchic sniffed.

At that moment, Combusken came out from hiding in the bushes and watching the battle. Torchic pushed aside Bullet and Marta and ran into his brother's arm. "Combusken…I was so scared!" he sobbed.

"Don't worry Torchic, it's over now…" Combusken said, holding his brother. Bullet and Marta couldn't help but smirk at this scene.

The four Pokémon soon gathered around the fainted Bidoof, staring blankly at it. "…So what do we do with him?" Marta spoke.

Bullet's eye fixated at a nearby stick, which he didn't hesitate to pick. He began to poke the fainted Pokémon several times, laughing to himself. "Don't do that," Combusken sighed.

Bullet turned to the Young Fowl Pokémon. "He kidnapped your brother," he reminded him.

"…Hand me a stick."

Bullet picked up another stick for Combusken, but Marta slapped both sticks out of Bullet's hands, using the two vines she sprouted on her back. "Ouch!" Bullet cried. "Killjoy…"

"Maybe I could bring it back to Treetop Village using Vine Whip," Marta thought aloud. The Snivy wrapped the two vines on her back around the Bidoof and tried to lift it, but it was no use. The Bidoof was way too heavy to be lifted. She gave up and retracted her vines. "Well that didn't work…"

"Stand aside," said the voice of a leader. The four turned around to find the source of the voice. Combusken, Torchic and Marta all gasped, which confused Bullet. "No way! It's the Legendary Officer!" Torchic said in disbelief. _Legendary Officer?_ Bullet thought.

All Bullet saw was a Pokémon probably no taller than he was. It was a Pokémon with white fur with large, orange, and pointed ears that looked like a 'V,' and two tails that looked more like wings. He'd never seen a Pokémon like this before. First Marta, now this Pokémon.

Was the Legendary Officer behind it?

"Legendary Officer Victini…" Marta said, star-struck. "It's an honor."

Victini looked pleased from being recognized. "Please, you flatter me." Victini strolled up to the fainted Bidoof. "Did you guys take this outlaw out?"

Marta nodded rapidly. "Yup, Bullet and I took him out, sir."

"Hold on a second," Bullet objected, "This is a 'Legendary Officer?' He's no bigger than any of us! How can he be legendary?"

Victini glared at the Treecko. He wasn't about to let some brat undermine his authority. So he decided to show this Treecko just how tough he was. Victini dashed behind Bullet, and before Treecko could even blink, Victini kicked Bullet in the back of the head, causing him to slid across the forest floor, his head in the dirt.

The other three Pokemon didn't know whether to be worried about Bullet or be in awe at Victini. "I'm small yet quick." The legendary officer said.

"You've made you point…" Bullet said, face in the dirt. Bullet sat up and turned toward the others. He saw the Victini push the Bidoof onto its back. Taking out a strange looking badge (it was solid gold, and it looked like a Pokeball with wings) he threw it in the air. The badge broke in half and turned into gold rings that acted as handcuffs for the Bidoof. Bullet was awestruck by this. "Cool…" he muttered to himself.

The rings suddenly grew wings, a function designed for fainted outlaws, especially those too big to be carried or dragged or anything in between. They lifted the Bidoof off the ground and the lifeless body floated by Victini. "I must return this outlaw back to Magnezone Prison, where he belongs. I thank you catching him for me. May our paths cross again." Victini walked away, the flying Bidoof following him. Combusken and Torchic followed him from a distance; just to be sure they got back to Treetop Village without being attacked by an outlaw or wild Pokémon.

Marta helped Bullet up, and Bullet dusted himself off. "I guess I should learn to keep my mouth shut," he chuckled.

Marta laughed as well, and then spoke. "So, Bullet, you've been transformed into a Treecko, and you've got nowhere to go. What're you gonna do?"

Bullet frowned. He got caught up in all the excitement he practically forgot about his current situation. She was right; he had nowhere to go, there were probably more outlaws or wild Pokémon out there that would hurt him. There was only one thing he could do now.

"Marta…If you don't mind, I'd like to hang with you for a little while," he suggested.

Marta smirked. "Sure!" Bullet smiled. That was one problem solved.

Marta looked up at the sky, looking as if she was contemplating something. After working up the courage, she decided to say something. "Um, Bullet…if you're hanging with me for a while, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Sure, shoot."

Marta sighed. "Well, you see," she began, "I've always wanted to be a Pokémon Officer. There are so many outlaws and bad Pokémon popping up nowadays, that I want to help lock away. I want to become an Apprentice Officer at Magnezone Prison and learn how to be a good officer like Victini. But I'm too scared even sign up…"

Bullet could see where this was going, but he let her continue. "You really helped me get the courage to face Bidoof. If it weren't for you I would've avoided the whole situation. I think if you were to become an Apprentice Officer along with me, then maybe I wouldn't be so scared." Marta looked up at Bullet. "So, what do you say? Will you help me?"

Bullet contemplated this for a brief moment before deciding he should help Marta. If he was going to stay with Marta for a while, the least he could do was help her. Besides, maybe by becoming a Pokémon Officer he could learn who he is along the way.

_It's settled then,_ Bullet thought to himself. "Alright, I'll help you!"

Marta grinned ear to ear. "R-Really? Thank you so much!" She could barely contain her excitement. Finally, after years of dreaming, she would finally enter the ranks as a Pokémon Officer!

Bullet held out his hand. "Alright Marta, from this moment on, you and me are going to be partners. We'll always have each other's backs. Got it?"

Marta put her hand on top of his and nodded. "Got it!"

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, that was longer then I thought it would be…Anyway, the story gets better. Reviews are appreciated!


	2. Special Officers

Victini marched into Treetop Village at around sunset. A couple of the villagers cheered for him as they saw he had captured yet another outlaw, as always. He couldn't help but smirk, as always.

He looked behind him and saw the flying, upside-down Bidoof looking bored out of his mind. When he had woken, the obvious response was to try and struggle out of the handcuffs, but it was futile. So now he just went along for the ride, blood rushing to his skull.

Victini also noticed a Combusken and Torchic leap into a nearby bush. He knew they were following him the whole time. He just chose to ignore them, since they posed no threat to him.

Treetop Village, as the name suggested, was built on large trees, almost all the homes and buildings perched on to them, like treehouses. There were quite a few Pokémon living there, almost to a point where it was overpopulated.

Victini groaned when he saw Sudowoodo, posing as a tree like he always does. He reluctantly approached him. "Sudowoodo, stop it," he demanded.

"I'm not Sudowoodo I'm a tree," Sudowoodo responded quickly, staring straight ahead. Not in the mood for games, Victini stomped on Sudowoodo's foot, causing him to break his concentration and grab his foot in pain. Tears in his eyes, he told Victini, "Geesh, Vic, how do you know it's me all the time?"

"Call it a hunch," Victini said in an annoyed tone.

"Well, I promise you that one day I'll fool all of you into believe I'm a tree!" Sudowoodo proclaimed, determination gleaming in his eyes.

Victini sighed. "Well good luck with that."

Sudowoodo saluted to the Legendary Officer. "Sudowoodo!"

Victini continued on his journey to the end of Treetop Village. Not a day goes by where he questions how that Pokémon became a Special Officer. But it couldn't be helped.

While on his way, Victini spotted other Special Officers Raichu and Smeargle. Raichu was curled up in the grass, while Smeargle was working on one of his various paintings.

Raichu lifted her head and glared at Smeargle. "You're painting again? Need I remind you your dumb paintings caused a breakout last night?" Smeargle ignored the Pokémon and continued to paint. "What're you painting anyway?"

Smeargle stopped painting. He turned around, arms crossed, and stepped away from the canvas so Raichu could see it. On the canvas was Raichu with a goofy expression on her face, the word 'doofus' written above her.

Filled with rage, Raichu tackled Smeargle. Victini just chuckled to himself and continued on his way to Magnezone Prison.

Once again he ran into another Special Officer. Special Officer Zangoose. Zangoose turned to the Legendary Officer and gave him the usual scowl. "Well, looks you like you finally caught Bidoof. Don't you deserve a medal…" Zangoose said sarcastically, approaching the Victory Pokémon. Victini sighed. Zangoose, by nature, was a pretty rude and spiteful Pokémon. But the one Pokémon he hated the most had to be Victini. The two have been rivals since day one.

"Shoo, Zangoose. I have to take this Pokémon back to his cell," Victini told him.

Zangoose chose to ignore him and started to examine the flying outlaw. He snickered. "It took you a whole day to catch this sorry excuse of an outlaw? Pathetic…" He began to poke Bidoof in an effort to annoy him. Angered, Bidoof bit his finger. "Ack!" Zangoose yelped. Zangoose swung at Bidoof, making it black out once again. "Piece of Shinx…" he grumbled.

Hearing Victini snickering behind him, Zangoose grew infuriated and tried to slash Victini with his claws, using a move known as False Swipe. Victini was able to dodge this with ease. He conjured up a large amount of fire within his stomach. He released the fire and aimed it at Zangoose in a move called Fire Blast. The attack missed and hit a nearby tree. Luckily, the fire did not spread and only burned up the tree.

"Stop this at once!"

Victini and Zangoose obeyed the voice, and turned to find the source. It was Special Officer Absol, who was not amused. "Honestly," she spoke, "you two act like children. You're Special Officers. You need to start behaving as such."

Zangoose crossed his arms. "You're not our mother, Absol. You can't boss us around." Absol gave him a cold glare, which caused him to shiver. He begrudgingly left the scene, not wanting to feel Absol's wrath.

Absol turned her attention to Victini and the Bidoof. "I suggest you get that outlaw back to its cell before you and it cause more trouble." Victini did as he was told. Absol was a wise Pokémon who you would not want to cross. Even the Legendary Officer himself was afraid of her. But she was a kind Pokémon, so long as you didn't push her buttons.

After all those, ahem, 'little' distractions, Victini finally reached Magnezone Prison. Magnezone Prison stretched into three separate buildings: The Main Building, the Holding Cells, and the Academy. Victini made a left at the Main Building toward the Detention Center.

At the entrance, Victini heard snoring above him. Perched on top of the roof of the Holding Cells building, taking a nap, was the last of the Special Officers, Special Officer Staraptor. Victini shook his head at the Pokémon. "Wake up, Staraptor!" he yelled.

Staraptor awoke with a start. He was about ready to pounce on the Pokémon that had woken him until he identified him and Victini. He yawned, his eyes half open. "You might not want to startle me like that while I'm on guard duty, Victini! I might attack ya…yaaaawn…"

"It's not like I couldn't stop you if you attacked me," Victini said condescendingly.

But Staraptor just ignored him. "Man, why do I have to get stuck on guard duty? This is just chump work for a Bronze Officer. I shouldn't have to be subjected to this!" he ranted.

"Outlaws are becoming more and more dangerous what with the moon situation and all," Victini reminded him. "We can't entrust Bronze Officers with so many dangerous outlaws."

Victini saw that his words fell on deaf ears, as Staraptor had fallen asleep once more. He sighed. He entered the Holding Cells with Bidoof by his side. Victini got the usual cold glares from outlaws he had captured in the past. He arrived at Cell 67B, Bidoof's cell, and threw the outlaw in there. The Legendary Officer put his hand in the air, and at that moment Bidoof's handcuffs turned back into his Police Badge in his hand.

Bidoof awoke once more. He looked around and saw Victini walking off, and that he was back in his dirty old cell. He groaned, but his sour mood was replaced with fear when he saw he cellmates Politoad and Charizard hovering over him. "H-Hi guys…" Bidoof shivered.

"The deal was we help you get out and you come and get us," Charizard said, pointing at the patched up hole about Bidoof's size in the cell. Bidoof gulped. "I…I…forgot?"

Bidoof shrieked as Charizard and Politoad pounced on him, giving him a merciless beating.

* * *

In the dead of night, Marta stepped out of her little home behind Floatzel Lake to see Bullet staring up at the night sky in total disbelief. Though she could see why. In all the excitement this morning she had forgotten to tell the poor human turned Treecko why she suspected him in the first place.

"What the Feraligatr happened to the moon!" he shouted.

Up in the stars, the moon loomed over the World of Pokémon. The only thing is that it was in pieces. Large fragments of the moon hovered by each other in the night sky, to which Bullet couldn't wrap around his head.

After a few moments, Marta explained. "The moon was destroyed a long time ago. Nobody knows why. But what we do know is that because of this-"

"There have been abnormal wave patterns?" Bullet interrupted.

"Well, that…And after the moon was destroyed, a lot of Pokémon lost their minds and became wild or evil or all of the above. A lot more outlaws like Bidoof have been popping up lately. Only most outlaws are much stronger than him."

Bullet was still in shock. _How on Earth did the moon get destroyed? How is that even possible?_ He thought.

Marta decided to leave Bullet to accept this stunning fact and went back to her bed. Because the way back to Treetop Village was way too dangerous during the night, the two agreed to wait until morning to travel there. After a few moments, Bullet went to his own bed that Marta made for him.

A minute or two later, Marta realized she couldn't sleep. She tossed around in her bed but her excitement kept getting the best of her. She turned to Bullet, who was asleep. "Hey, Bullet?" she whispered.

Bullet stirred in his bed. "Hmm?" he moaned.

"Thanks again…for agreeing to become an Apprentice Officer with me. It means a lot."

"Oh, no problem," Bullet yawned.

"I know this is all so sudden for you," Marta continued, "considering you're a human turned Pokémon with no memories. It must be pretty shocking for you. I hope you get…your memories back…" And just like that, Marta drifted off to sleep.

Now that Bullet had a quiet moment alone, he began to reflect. _OK Bullet, let's recap what you got yourself into,_ he thought to himself. _You're a Pokémon, you have no memories, you're in a world full of dangerous Pokémon and a destroyed moon, and to top it all off now you're becoming an officer of the law._ This had to be one of the craziest days of his life. Of course he couldn't even remember his life, but he was sure this took the cake.

Bullet glanced over at the sleep Snivy in the straw. _Marta is a good Pokémon…_ he thought. _And she's letting me stay in her home. She's been so helpful; the least I can do for her is do this Pokémon Officer thing._

Bullet remembered what he said earlier today.

"_Alright Marta, from this moment on, you and me are going to be partners. We'll always have each other's backs. Got it?" _

Bullet smirked to himself.

_Marta, wherever you go, I'll follow._

* * *

The next morning, Bullet and Marta safely made their way to Treetop Village. I took them almost an hour to get to the village, which made Bullet beg the question: "Why don't you live here? Why do you live out in that lake far away?"

Marta stared down at the dirt path. "Tamira Forest and that cave in the waterfall holds a lot of meaning to me." She sighed sadly. "I don't like talking about."

"Ok then…" Bullet simply said. There really was nothing else he could think about saying. It was best to just drop the subject and do what they came here to do. "So, where's this Magnezone Prison you were talking about?"

"Oh, it's-"

"MARTA!"

Marta was suddenly grabbed from behind and was restricted into a death hug. Bullet identified the Pokémon that picked Marta up as a Sudowoodo. He could see Marta's face changing color from lack of oxygen, and he suppressed the urge to laugh.

"Marta, it's good to see you! I haven't seen you in ages!" The Sudowoodo chirped.

"I just saw you not two days ago, Sudowoodo!" Marta argued, about to pass out from lack of air.

"That's two days too many!" Sudowoodo let go of the little Snivy, who was now gasping for air.

Bullet studied the Sudowoodo. He seemed like a major goofball, as he had the stupidest grin on his face and an innocent sparkle in his eyes. Other than that he was nothing more than your average looking Sudowoodo. He realized Sudowoodo was studying him as well, and looked pretty shocked. Almost as if he was an alien.

"Say Marta, who's your new friend?" Sudowoodo asked.

"Oh, this is Bullet. He's…" She wanted to saw he was a human, but Bullet shot her a glance that told her she shouldn't. He wasn't probably right. She defiantly believed Bullet, but everyone else might think they're nuts. "…new around here," she finished.

"Oh, OK," Sudowoodo said, the goofy smile returning to his face, not bothering to ask any more questions. "I only ask because you don't see many Treeckos around here, and what with more and more bad Pokémon popping up…" he realized he was digressing. "Oh, but anyway nice to meet you Bullet!"

"Likewise, um…Sudowoodo, right?" Bullet asked.

Sudowoodo's face suddenly got serious. "That's Special Officer Sudowoodo to you!"

Bullet blinked in confusion. "'Special Officer?'"

"You see Bullet," Marta began to explain, "Pokémon Officers have certain ranks. You start at Apprentice Officer, then Normal Officer, Bronze Officer, Silver Officer, Gold Officer, and then Special Officer. There are hundreds of officers but only seven Special Officers. They're the best of the best! Legendary Officer Victini is technically a Special Officer, but everyone just calls him Legendary because of his amazing strength!"

"Yeah, Vic's the best!" Sudowoodo added. "Anyway, I got some important-type stuff to do, so I'll see you two later! Nice to meet you, Bullet!"

Instead of walking away from the duo, he just continued to stand there. He stiffened up, positioning his arms in a bizarre way. As he stood as still as a statue, Bullet could only stare at the Pokémon, wondering just what the heck it was doing.

"Um-"

"Ignore him," Marta interrupted, sighing. She began to stroll deeper into the village, and Bullet quickly followed.

_Is that really one of the best officers out there?_ Bullet thought as they continued walking_. _He instantly became concerned for the residence of this area.

"So you're pals with a Special Officer?" Bullet asked, trying to strike up a conversation. "That's pretty awesome."

"Yup," Marta replied. "I know another one…Oh, here she is now! Absol!"

Marta rushed over to an Absol who looked in deep thought as she gazed up into the morning sky. The young Snivy snapped her out of this. The Absol gave her a gentle smile. "Hello Marta," Absol said.

"What were you thinking about?" Marta asked.

Absol shook her head. "Oh, it was nothing."

Marta looked irritated. "Come on! You're always in deep thought lately and you always tell me it's nothing."

Absol sighed and gazed back up at the clouds. "It's just…I'm tired of living in these times. The moon destroyed, outlaws at every turn…I just wish I could do something about it…"

Marta wasn't sure what to say. "Well, what can we do? It's not like we can put the moon back together again…"

"…Hmph," Absol simply said. She took her eyes off the clouds and onto Marta, then to the unfamiliar Pokémon behind her. "Who are you?"

"Huh?" Bullet said, caught off guard. "Oh, my name is Bullet. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. My name is Absol." She turned her attention to Marta. "So Marta, what are you and your new friend up to?"

"Well…I was thinking…" Marta said carefully, wondering what Absol's reaction might be of her choosing to become a Pokémon Officer. She was always so protective of her. "…of becoming an Apprentice Officer."

"Really?" Absol said, looking surprised. Marta looked at her with pleading eyes, as if asking for permission. Her surprise quickly turned to concern. But never the less she managed to put on a smile and say, "Well, if you really want to, I'll support you every step of the way. Just try and be careful."

Marta's face lit up. "I will! Thank you!"

Absol chuckled at the Pokémon's enthusiasm. "Well, I should get going. Best of luck to you on your apprenticeship Marta. Same goes to you, Bullet." With that, Absol was gone.

Marta turned to the former human. "Absol and I met about five years ago," she explained. "She's been like a mother to me. She's so kind. But she can get really scary if you cross her." Suddenly Marta looked nervous. "D-Don't tell her I said!"

A mischievous smile formed on Bullet's face as he continued walking down the dirt path. "Maaaaybe," he said slyly as he continued walking.

"H-Hey! That's not funny!" Marta shouted, chasing after the Treecko. "I'm serious! Don't tell her! Bullet!"

Bullet only laughed.

* * *

Marta felt her heart pounding quickly as she stood in front of the Academy building. This was really it. On the way over here she was so pumped, but now the thought of becoming an officer seemed so frightening as she looked up at the building in front of her.

"I…I don't know if I can do this…" she thought aloud.

"Sure you can!" Bullet encouraged her. "Come on, we didn't come all this way to turn back!"

Marta took a deep breath. She was tired of living her life in fear. She already knew she had what it took, as she was able to help take down Bidoof. Besides, she wasn't alone. She had Bullet to help her through this. If she was serious about doing this, she would do it now.

"Alright," she finally said. "Let's go in."

Bullet was the first to enter the building, with Marta forcing her feet to follow him. The building had nothing really special. There was a desk at the end of the room, plus a few boxes stacked around the room. The Academy building was not very big or important, as all of the apprentice training was done behind the building and the apprentices did not live there. The overseer of the building mostly used it for storage.

The duo looked around the room and saw a Pokémon, which they identified as an Exploud, stacking a few boxes in the corner of the room.

Marta tried to get the Pokémon's attention. "Um…Hello?"

"About TIME you got here!" The Exploud shouted with a booming voice, not bothering to see who exactly entered.

"H-Huh?"

"I've been WAITING all day for YOU!"

"Do you know this guy too?" Bullet asked.

"I've never seen him," Marta said.

Exploud finally turned around to face the two Grass-Type Pokémon. A mixture of surprise and embarrassment was in his expression. "Oh, it's just some kids. I thought you were here with my supply of Oran Berries. Stupid Slowking. Can't even handle the simplest task…" Exploud realized he was drifting off. "So wadda ya want! I'm BUSY!"

Marta jumped at the Pokémon's intimidating voice (which nearly shattered her eardrums). She thought about fleeing for a split second before shoving the thought aside. She had to do this. Summoning all her courage, she said loud and confidently, "We want to sign up to be Apprentice Officers!"

"What? You kids want to be Apprentice Officers?" Exploud said in surprise.

"You heard her!" Bullet snapped at him.

Exploud was thoroughly amazed at the two Pokemon's passion. "…OK, sure," Exploud said plainly, heading over to the desk.

"R-Really!" Marta exclaimed, her eyes lit up.

Exploud took out of blank document and a pencil from out of the desk. "Sure, so long as you understand this," Exploud began, his face turning serious. "Being a Pokemon Officer is not a game. It takes hard work and maturity. If you won't take this seriously, you can just walk out this door right now. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Yessir!" The duo said firmly.

Exploud smirked. "Alright, if you're really serious, let's get you registered. First off, what are your names?"

"My name is Marta, sir!"

"I'm Bullet."

"OK…" Exploud muttered, writing down their names on the document. "Now will you two be a team?"

"Yup!" Marta said.

"So what'll your squad name be?"

Marta frowned. She hadn't really taken it into consideration. To be honest she was surprised she got this far at all. "Hmm…Our squad name…What do you think, Bullet?"

"Huh?" Bullet said. _What's she asking me for?_ He thought. Nevertheless, Bullet quickly thought up of a simple name. "How about…Squad Leaf? Sounds nice and simple."

Marta smirked. "Yeah, that has a nice ring to it! Squad Leaf…" she repeated.

"Alright then, Squad Leaf it is," Exploud commented, filling out the document. "Alright, you're all registered. Training starts tomorrow! Come early or don't come at all!"

"That's all?" Bullet asked in astonishment as Exploud went back to inventory.

"That's all!" Exploud parroted. "Now go! I have work to do!"

Bullet could barely believe it was just that easy, but didn't question it. He walked out of the building with Marta, who was about ready to explode with excitement. Once Squad Leaf was outside, Exploud sighed.

"I can't believe it," he said to himself. "To think, kids wanting to become Pokémon Officers. These are strange times we live in. But then again, I shouldn't be so quick to judge those two. They almost remind me of…them." Exploud sighed nostalgically. "How I miss the guild days."

Back outside, Marta couldn't hold her excitement in anymore and leapt for joy. "I can't believe it! I didn't think it'd be so easy! I'm so pumped!" she shouted. She turned to her partner. "Bullet, our training starts tomorrow. I can't wait! Let's do our best!"

Marta's enthusiasm started rubbing off on Bullet. "I won't let you down!" he proclaimed.

The two threw their fists in the air, shouting in glee.

* * *

"_Hey, are you OK?"_

"_Mmm….Wha…?"_

"_Are you alright? You look hurt! Who did this to you?"_

"_I…I don't…remember…I can't seem to remember anything…"_

"_You don't? Well…Do you at least remember your name?_

"_My name…? I…I think it's…"_

Bullet awoke to the sound of a roaring waterfall, utterly confused.

_What was THAT?_

* * *

**A/N: **I actually had this chapter done when I submitted Chapter 1, but I wanted to space it out. Anyway, next chapter we find out Marta's backstory. Yes, already. Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming! :D Chapter 3 soon.


	3. Distant Memories

**A/N: **The reason this chapter took so long was: A.) Got Pokémon White, so I spent most of my free time playing that, B.) school work, C.) other projects and stories, and D.) unlike the other chapters, this one was not prewritten. Anyway, now that I beat Pokémon White I know a lot more 5th Gen Pokémon, so expect more of those. Well, enough of that. Enjoy!

* * *

Kirlia smacked the sleeping Slowking in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Slowking shrieked, rubbing his sore head. "A simple 'Wake up!' would've also been acceptable, Kirlia!"

Kirlia shook her head in disgust. "I wasn't about to let you sleep through morning assembly today," she sighed. "If Exploud catches you sleeping again it'll be all our asses!"

It was a normal morning for the apprentices: Kirlia was as cranky as ever, while Slowking was as sleepy as ever. Bayleef was full of pep and was ready to take on Exploud's harsh training program. Sewaddle on the other hand already started feeling swore just thinking of it. Axew wore his game face, ready to take on his training and all these weak Pokémon than dared pass themselves off as future Pokémon Officers. Phanphy was for whatever reason really excited, which she confessed to her comrades.

"Hey, you guys hear we're getting new recruits?"

Everyone's attention was immediately turned to Phanphy.

"What? New recruits?" Kirlia said dreadfully. "Ugh...We're gonna have to pick up their slack like all new recruits! We're still picking up Slowking's-SLOWKING! Wake up!"

"Wha-!" Slowking woke up astonished. He didn't stay awake for long. He was asleep again as fast as he woke up.

Kirlia groaned loudly. "I wish Darmanitan didn't graduate to Normal Officer. He would know how to deal with you!" Slowking's snoring drowned out her rant.

"Wait, if there are new recruits, and they're not here yet, then…" Sewaddle shuttered at the thought. Hundreds of push-ups were imminent. Curse those unpunctual new apprentices!

"Hey Phanphy, is that them over there?" Bayleef asked, pointing to the Snivy and Treecko heading their way.

"Looks like it."

Bullet and Marta strolled in with puffy eyes. Marta rubbed her eyes as she approached the other apprentices with her partner. "Hey…are you the other Apprentice Officers?" Marta yawned. "Is this where we're supposed to-"

"Where have you been!" Sewaddle shouted at the top of his lungs, snapping Bullet and Marta out of their drowsy state. "We could have gotten in HUGE trouble if you came late! If you're late we're all late! Just thinking of the push-ups we would have to do! THE PUSH-UPS!-!-!" Sewaddle collapsed on the floor after his little panic attack.

Bullet and Marta were completely speechless. Seeing as nobody was going to say anything, Kirlia spoke up. "Ahem. What Sewaddle means to say is that you should come here earlier each day. You're lucky Exploud is running a little late himself or you'd get in trouble. And if one of use gets in trouble we all get in trouble…Oh, I'm Kirlia, by the way."

"My name is Phanphy!" The Long Nose Pokémon chimed. "This is Bayleef, there's Axew, and that's Slowking sleeping in the corner over there."

"Hi! I'm Marta, and this is Bullet-"

Kirlia paid no attention to the new apprentices and instead turned to Slowking in frustration. "Slowking, if you don't wake up right now I'll shove my foot right up your-"

"SORRY I'M LATE!" shouted a familiar stentorian voice. Exploud strolled up to his apprentices from a distance.

Sewaddle immediately picked himself off the floor, while the loud noise woke Slowking up from his nap. The apprentices line up horizontally in front of Exploud, and Bullet and Marta quickly did the same, trying not to stick out.

Exploud looked around to see if everyone was in attendance. He noticed that the group was one Pokémon short. "Where's Archen!"

Nobody spoke a word, because nobody knew the answer. Nobody except Phanphy, who was trying her best to conceal the secret, only to no avail. You could always tell when Phanphy was hiding something. It was written all over her face. And like always, Exploud picked it up. "PHANPHY?" he said in an impatient voice.

Phanphy staggered back a little in fear. She gulped and said, "W-Well, I-I might have h-heard him tell me that, uh, well, he was…" She gulped again. "…leaving."

"LEAVING!-?-!-?" This time Exploud's voice cause all the apprentices to stagger backwards in surprise (even causing Sewaddle to faint). "LEAVING FOR WHERE!"

"U-U-Uh…" Phanphy struggled to find words. "He…He said that he was too weak, a-and that he wouldn't come back until he learned how to fly…Yeah…"

Exploud was seething with rage. "Why that no good poor excuse of a…IF I EVER FIND THAT TWERP I'LL-" Exploud stopped himself. He had to be wary of his blood pressure. Audino told him to calm down more often unless he wanted an earlier visit from Dusknoir. "…Know what? Forget it." he simply said.

Exploud turned to the two new recruits. "Everyone, starting TODAY, Marta and Bullet will be our new Apprentice Officers. As always, they'll get NO special treatment. From me, OR any of you. GOT IT?"

"Yessir!" the other apprentices said firmly.

"GOOD." He turned his back to them. "Well, let's not delay! Let's get started!"

* * *

Behind the Academy was a large battlefield used for training for all Pokémon Officers, though most of the time it was reserved by Exploud for training his apprentices. The Apprentice Officers were lined up as they were before in front of Exploud, the battlefield behind him.

"ALRIGHT!" Exploud began, "Our first match up will be Squad Leaf against Axew and Sewaddle, followed by a Rotation Battle between Kirlia, Axew and Phanphy against Slowking, Sewaddle and Bayleef."

Sewaddle was sweating already. "Aw jeez, I'm up twice in a row! Oh man, I'm gonna be slaughtered!"

Axew looked completely unamused. "Being pitted up against rookies? So that's what I've been reduced to…"

The four Pokémon went to their positions. Marta was sweating heavily (though not as much as Sewaddle) in anxiety for the impending battle. But she had already gotten this far. There was no turning back now. She turned to Bullet, who was looking eager for a scrap. Strange. For a human turned Pokémon with no memories he sure was courageous.

"Alright…" Exploud boomed. "BEGIN!"

Bullet was the first to make a move. On all fours, he quickly charged at Axew with a glowing white light following him from behind, using a move called Quick Attack. Just before making an impact, Axew held his paw up, his claws growing longer and glowing blue. Using Dragon Claw, Axew countered Bullet and sent him flying back.

Taking a deep breath, Sewaddle gave a loud battle cry as he charged toward Marta, getting ready to use Struggle Bug. Marta easily dodged the attack. Concentrating, Marta started to form several small hearts around her body and launched them at Sewaddle. The tiny hearts surrounded the Bug-type and entered its body. Attract was successful.

When Sewaddle opened his eyes again, he saw Marta in a new light. "Woooow," he swooned, blushing madly. "I never noticed how amazingly cute you were…"

"Snap out of it, Sewaddle!" Axew cried out, though his call fell on deaf ears, as Sewaddle was too deeply infatuated with Marta. Both Mart and Bullet took advantage of this distraction: Marta used Tackle on Sewaddle and Bullet used Quick Attack on Axew, both of which were direct hits.

Axew quickly shook off the attack and lunged at the Treecko bearing his claws once again, this time using False Swipe. The move failed to make impact, and Bullet quickly countered using Pound.

Axew got up again, refusing to be humiliated in front of his peers by a Pokémon who hasn't even been an apprentice for an hour. He was pretty quick, he gave him that. Of course, all Treeckos were pretty fast. He knew if he hoped to take these rookies down he would need help from Sewaddle and his Bug-type moves. He looked at the condition of his partner: he was being held up high by Marta's vines while still very much infatuated with her.

As Axew was formulating a plan, he felt a small amount of his energy beings drained away from him. He saw small blue orbs leave his body and merger into Bullet's. He had used Absorb while he was distracted, but it being a Grass-type move, very little energy left Axew's body.

As Bullet swung his tail at the Tusk Pokémon once again, Axew skillfully dodged it. As Marta was getting ready to finish off Sewaddle, Axew slashed the Snivy with his claws, causing her to drop the Sewaddle. Being bonked on the head, he was instantly knocked out of his infatuation with Marta (though he had a headache as a price).

Getting back into the game, Sewaddle hurled himself at Marta and sunk his teeth into her head, using Bug Bite. Stunned, Marta tried to shake of Sewaddle in any way possible, but it was no use. Eventually Marta started to become woozy and stopped resisting. Bullet eventually smacked Sewaddle off with his tail.

Axew grinned, seeing as though Marta was seconds away from fainting. Now for Bullet. Combining their attacks, Axew used Dragon Claws and Sewaddle used Struggle Bug on the Wood Gecko Pokémon, which were all critical hits.

After taking all the damage they could, Squad Leaf fell.

Exploud raised his hand in the air. "Bullet and Marta are unable to battle!" he announced. "The winners are Sewaddle and Axew!"

The other apprentices cheered.

"Hmph, no sweat," Axew boasted, trying to hid the pain in his voice.

Even though having won, he was still sweating with anxiety. "Oh man, that was bad! I could've been pulverized! I shouldn't have let Attract hit me-ARGH!"

"Alright, enough celebrating!" Exploud ordered. "Now go get some Oran Berries and Reviver Seeds from Storage. PRONTO!"

Startled by Exploud's loud voice, Sewaddle scurried to Storage as fast as he could, Axew following him. Exploud fixed his gaze onto the two syncope Pokémon that lie at his feet. He had to admit; they fought pretty well for their first battle, especially considering they were at a type disadvantage, but 'pretty well' didn't cut it when an outlaw is charging at their throat. The rules were that any apprentice who fainted in battle had to run three laps. Those two were in for a rude awakening when Sewaddle and Axew came back.

* * *

"Hey, check that out," Kirlia laughed.

"Aw, poor rookies," Bayleef said sincerely.

Not too far from where the two Apprentice Officers were standing, Marta and Bullet were sprawled along the grass, looking completely wiped out.

"My everything is sore…" Marta whined.

"I think I'm gonna lay here…for the next couple years…" Bullet groaned.

Squad Leaf could hear Axew chuckling to himself. "Classic rookies…Weak."

After hearing this, Bullet sprang up onto his feet. "Hey, we're not weak!" Bullet retorted. "We nearly beat you!"

Axew laughed harder this time. "As if! I'm going home."

As Axew walked away, Sewaddle began to squirm away from the scene as well, taking to himself. "Man, today was the longest training day EVER! I thought I wouldn't survive this time! Oh man, why do I keep coming back here!" Eventually Sewaddle's ramblings were too far away to hear.

Bullet helped his partner up as Kirlia approached the duo. "Oh, don't listen to Axew," she told them, "he's all talk. I've kicked his butt plenty of times."

"You guys did pretty well for your first battle!" Phanphy chimed in. "I was knocked out instantly my first battle."

"Thanks guys," Marta smirked. "but we still have a lot of training to do."

* * *

_Here, have an Oran Berry. It'll help fix you up!_

_Thank you…Why are you being so nice to me?_

_Well, why not?_

_Aren't you afraid of me? Look at me…I'm a monster…_

_Aw, come on, I don't scare easy! Besides, I think you look pretty cool._

…_Thank you…_

Bullet awoke again to the sound of a raging waterfall. He had another dream of those two people again. One of them sounded just like, well, him. Could these be his memories? They were certainly vague. Why did they only focus on this one other person? Was it someone special to him?

"Bullet, are you OK?" Bullet turned to a concerned Marta. "You look like you woke up from a weird dream. Is everything alright?"

After a moment of consideration, Bullet thought it was best not to tell Marta about his dreams until he knew what they meant. He simply lied back in his bed and said, "It's not important."

"Oh…OK." Marta curled up in her bed, getting ready to go back to sleep as well. However, thinking about the day, she really couldn't sleep. "Today was amazing," she whispered. "The apprentices all seem really nice. Well, except Axew. The training is a little difficult, but I didn't really expect it to be easy. I'm really glad you're here to help me out Bullet…Bullet?"

Marta figured out that Bullet had already fallen asleep.

* * *

One month. Had it really been one month?

I mean, sure, Bullet didn't really mind hanging around Treetop Village. He really got along with most of the Pokémon who lived there, and he really like hanging around with Marta. The duo had been doing well with their training, and Exploud was really impressed with their progress.

But still, a whole month…and still no progress regaining his memories. Was he doomed to be a Pokémon for the rest of his life?

"You know, I haven't seen Victini in a while," Bullet brought up as he and Marta were eating Oran Berries, leaning against a tree in Tamira Forest after a long day of training.

"Oh, he went chasing after a powerful outlaw, so he probably won't be back for a while," Marta responded. "He's always going on missions like that."

Silence lingered in the air for quite some time.

A question arose in Bullet's head that he had always wondered but never bothered to ask. He turned to Marta and said, "Hey Marta…Why'd you want to be a Pokémon Officer?"

Marta froze. She knew getting asked that was inevitable. Hiding her past from her own partner wouldn't last long. Still, she tried to avoid the subject. "Oh, y'know…Just because."

Bullet suppressed a laugh. "Come on Marta, you don't do something 'just because.' There has to be a reason."

Marta shook her head. "It's personal. Can we just leave it at that?"

"No," Bullet said boldly. Marta didn't know whether to admire or curse him for his determination. "I'm your partner, aren't I? There should be no secrets between us. A partnership is nothing without trust."

That's another thing: she hated it when he was right.

Taking the last bite of her Oran Berry, Marta took a deep breath. She had heard talking about something helped ease the pain. It was time to face her past.

"OK, but it's a long story…"

* * *

_A long time ago, Tamira Forest wasn't just filled with Pokémon gone wild. This was five years ago, a long time before the moon was destroyed, and when I was much younger._

_In the heart of the forest there lied three different tribes: One with only Emboar, Pignite and Tepig, one with only Samurott, Dewott and Oshawott, and one with only Serperior, Servine and Snivy. I was part of the third one, as you can imagine._

_In these tribes to separate ourselves from the other Snivy or Servine or so on we were given nicknames so we didn't all have the same name, to avoid confusion. That's why I'm called 'Marta' instead of 'Snivy.'_

_Back then everything was carefree. I had the most amazing parents ever and the greatest friends. Our three tribes intermingled with one another, and I was friends with an Oshawott named Brian and a Tepig named Joey. We were inseparable._

Joey lunged himself at the moss-covered rock. This was it! The day he finally beat Marta! His inner victory lasted only a moment though, as a vine suddenly wrapped around his body and hurled him backward. Once he got up, he saw a smug-looking Marta perched atop the rock.

Joey was steamed. "Hey, no fair!" he cried. "You cheated!"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Marta said slyly, trying to conceal a laugh.

Joey was tempted to user Ember in his frustration, but instead concealed it and looked behind him to see Brian struggling to keep running. Tepig smirked. The one thing that made losing to Marta bearable was watching Brian sweating buckets with his face beat red trying to catch up with the two.

"Guys…Wait uh…Almost there…" Brian managed to mutter in between pants. Soon his legs and lungs couldn't take it anymore and he collapsed onto the floor. Marta and Joey laughed hysterically. Brian was too tired to even be mad at them.

Marta looked around at her surroundings and was disappointed. She looked forward to the days when Eevee would travel to this rock in order to evolve in Leafeon. It was always a treat to see a Pokémon evolve. Since it was summer at the time Eevees typically evolved into Glaceon or Vaporeon in an effort to beat the heat. It confused Marta why they did this. Why would you change into a Vaporeon just so you could stay cool? Seemed rather impulsive, since you'll be stuck that way the rest of your life. What about in the winter when it's cold and you want to be a Flareon? Too late then.

Brian's voice broke Marta's train of thought. "S…Someday…I'm gonna beat you guys," he panted, picking himself off of the ground.

Marta rolled her eyes. "You always say that, and yet I always win," she gloated.

"We need to get home," Joey suggested, trying to avert the conversation away from Marta's gloating. "Our parents are gonna get worried about us again."

"Aw, come on Joey! We never played my game like you promised!" Brian whined. "You always do that!"

"Don't be a baby," Joey muttered, walking off to his village, Marta doing the same.

"I heard that!"

_Those good times…I thought they would never stop. That was, until _he _came. That Pokémon who ruined it all…_

"Arthur, what's going on?" Marta asked her big brother, pointing to the crowd forming in the village.

"Beats me," the Servine said.

The Snivy and Servine inched their way through the crowd, eventually making it to the front of the crowd, where they saw three Pokémon. The one in the front was orange and sported a yellow hood and pants, along with a buffalo cowboy hat. Behind him were two Pokémon who both looked like a younger version of the leader.

"Glad you all could make it. Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Scrafty," the leader began, tipping his hat to the villagers. "These here are my associates, Scraggy and Scraggy."

"At yer service!" The Scraggy chimed simultaneously.

The three reached into their pockets and conjured three police badges. "As you can see, we three are Pokémon Officers." Murmurs erupted between the Grass-Type Pokémon. Scrafty raised his voice above the voices. "Can we talk to the head honcho around here?"

An old-looking Serperior slithered his way through the crowd to address the officers. "I am the elder of this village. What business do you have here?"

"We came here to deliver some urgent news to you. We have reason to believe there's an outlaw somewhere here in Tamira Forest."

Panic began to rise within the crowd. Scrafty and the elder's attempts to settle the crowd were futile.

"An outlaw! Here! In our quaint little village!"

"Bah, I can take on an outlaw! No tough guy is gonna mess with Tamira Forest on my watch!"

"Big bro, I'm scared!"

"Calm down, Marta!"

"SHUT YER TRAPS!"

The uproar of the crowd was quelled instantly by the cries from the two Scraggy. Silence lingered in the air for several moments until it was banished by the clearing of Scrafty's throat.

"As I was saying," he continued, "We've been chasing this outlaw for several days, and we have reason to believe he's here."

"What does this outlaw look like?" The elder asked.

"We can't say for sure," Scrafty explained. "He is a master of disguise. He can make himself look like anyone or anything. He could be that tree, or that bush. He could be you, he could be me, he could be a Tepig, a Dewott, and Emboar – Yes, I've seen some suspicious stuff in those other villages.

Panic erupted once more.

"Oh great, I wish he hadn't said "master of disguise." So long, sanity!"

"You know, I met a Emboar yesterday who looked pretty suspicious!"

"Yeah, and I saw a Dewott who looked PRE-TTY shady if you ask me!"

Scrafty raised his voice one last time. "With that, we'll take our leave. Rest assured we'll be devoting all our time to finding that outlaw. Please watch your backs. You never know where the outlaw may be."

The officers' voice lingered in the air as he and his two associates left the village.

_From that day forward, paranoia consumed everyone's mind, including my own. My parent's eyes rarely strayed away from my brother and I. In fact, we could barely leave home. One day I snuck out to meet Joey and Brian at our hangout to see if they were OK._

"I don't like it."

Joey sat atop the moss rock, distinguishing himself with the look of a leader. Marta and Brian looked at him with a flare in their eyes.

"This outlaw is causing a huge stir in my village and it hasn't even done anything yet. Worse yet, everyone seems to be pretty hostile toward Samurott."

"It's the same in my village with Emboar," Marta chimed.

"Everyone in my village hates Serperior now…" Brian said solemnly.

Joey got up on all fours, looking strong and determined. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go and tell Scrafty to hurry up with this investigation or else I'll-"

"Joey, sweetie! Get down from there!"

Joey looked behind him to see a female Emboar running frantically toward him. "Mom?" he called out in shock.

"Get down here now, and get away from those Pokémon!"

Astonishment stole Joey's voice. He had never seen his mother so scared, especially of his friends. How could she be afraid of his friends? They'd been friends practically since they were born, and his mother had known them all their lives too, but now it was as if she'd never met them before. She only saw one thing: the outlaw.

Unable to find words, he simply repeated, "Mom?"

_It was at that moment true paranoia struck. Everyone in my village quit watching their backs from each other and focused all their attention on the Emboar and Samurott villages. It was as if everyone was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode._

_Then, it was when I met them…The evening it all erupted…I still remember it exactly. I was at our old hangout, alone, having snuck from my parents again…_

Leaning on the old moss rock as the sun crept down the horizon, memories of Marta's friends flooded in. All those races they had, all those games of tag and hide and seek they played, all the laughs they shared…She tried to hold in her tears. Those times were gone, all thanks to some stupid outlaw that probably didn't exist. The only thing that was destroying her life was the fear of her villagers.

"Excuse me, little girl?" a kind voice called out.

Marta took her gaze off of the ground and saw two Pokémon approaching her: one walked on all fours and had beautiful white fur, while the other looked exactly like a tree.

Marta raised her defense, despite their friendly attitude. "Y-Yes?"

"Do you mind if we talk to you for a minute?" the Pokémon with white fur asked.

"My mom told me not to talk to strangers…"

The Pokémon with white fur smiled. "I suppose we should change that. My name is Absol, and this is Sudowoodo."

The tree Pokémon known as Sudowoodo saluted to Marta with a goofy grin. "Hey there! What's your name?"

Marta giggled at the Sudowoodo's face. "My name is Marta."

"Pretty name! Say, we need your help. See, Abby and I are-"

"I told you not call me that," Absol interjected, the sweetness in her voice completely gone.

Sudowoodo looked dumbfounded. "But I thought you liked the nicknames I gave you!"

Absol ignored Sudowoodo's childish remarks. "You see Marta, Sudowoodo and I are Pokémon Officers. Special Officers, to be exact."

A Special Officer? Marta had never heard of them. In fact, Scrafty and his Scraggy were the only Pokémon Officers she ever saw. Was the rank of Special Officer really that special? "OK…" Marta said, trying to act like she knew what they were talking about.

Sudowoodo conjured up a poster and presented it to Marta. A picture of a familiar Pokémon was on it. "Have you seen this Pokémon before, Marta? It's OK if you haven't. We're looking for him."

Marta's eyes nearly popped out of her head. The Pokémon on the poster was none other than Scrafty, but that wasn't the most shocking part. Right above his picture was the word 'WANTED.'

"T-That's-!" Wanted? Scrafty was wanted! But Scrafty was supposed to be the good guy! The one who was protecting them from the outlaw! Nothing about this made sense!

The look in the Snivy's eyes told Absol everything she needed to know. "This Pokémon's name is Scrafty. He is a two-star rank outlaw. He may not look that tough, but he's very cunning. He can manipulate any Pokémon to do as he wants. His greed has stomped on the lives of countless innocent lives."

"B-But…He said he was a Pokémon Officer…" Marta said, trying to take in everything.

"A squad of Silver Officers tried to confront him and his two lackeys and stole their police badges," Sudowoodo explained. "We've been trying to get them back."

As much as Marta didn't want to believe it were true, she knew it was. Everything made complete sense. The way Scrafty always told them how he was 'pretty sure an Emboar looked exactly like the outlaw' or how 'that Oshawott looked pretty shifty.' It was a pack of lies. There was never any outlaw in the first place. He was taking them for a ride, and they fell for it. Now Marta's life was crumbling around her, all thanks to that dumb Scrafty!

"Do you have any idea where Scrafty might be?" Absol asked.

Anger built up inside the Snivy. "Yes ma'am, I do. Some of my villagers said he hangs around the edge of Tamira Forest. I can take you to him."

Absol detected the malice in Marta's tone and knew it wasn't a good sign. "Lead the way."

By the time the three reached their destination the sun had completely vanished and the moon lingered above the sky, still intact. It wouldn't be for another few years until it would be destroyed.

On the edge of Tamira Forest was, just as Marta said, Scrafty and his two minions. Scrafty was pacing around frantically as the two Scraggy looked completely clueless. Marta was about to walk up to them and give them a piece of her mind but Absol urged her to hide behind the bushes with her and Sudowoodo. "It's too dangerous," she whispered.

The three eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Say boss, how come yer makin' us wait around like a bunch of lumps?" One of the Scraggy asked.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Scrafty rushed over to the Scraggy and smacked him across the head. "Yowch!"

"Doofus!" Scrafty shouted. "Honestly, in one ear and out the otha with yous. We're waitin for Agent Z to initiate the final part of the plan!"

"But boss, how can wes be sure this Agent Z can get the job done?" the other Scraggy asked.

A devious smile crept onto Scrafty's face. "Oh, don't yous worry. Agent Z is worth every penny. He never fails. He's so cunning and stealthy not even the best of officers know of his existence."

"And, um, what did we pay him to do again boss?"

Another blow to the head for the other Scraggy.

Scrafty sighed. "Alright, I'll go over the plan ONCE MORE for yous idiots. First off, I told yous about the super rare treasure that's supposed to be somewhere in this here forest. The only thing that's keepin us from tearin this forest about lookin for it are those Arceus-damn villagers. No doubt they knows about the treasure, and if wes start diggin around they'll start getting wise and stop us. That's why wes needs to be rid of 'em. Now wes could never drive out all them villagers on our own, no sir. So instead, we have them chase themselves out. And it couldn't be easier! Grass-, Fire-, and Water-Types living together. It's a food chain just waitin' to happen! So we toy with their minds, convince them all them other Emboar's or Serperior's are their enemies. We've completed that part of the plan. Those villages are just waitin to pounce on each others. Agent Z's the one is gonna push them over the top. Once he gets them all wild up, those villages are as good as dead, and we'll be free to do all the treasure huntin' we want here!"

Scrafty laughed evily at the sky, and his minions did the same.

"That's brilliant, boss!" One Scraggy commented.

"Yeah! This is yer best plan since dat scam with the Sandile!" the other said.

Scrafty snickered to himself. "Of course. Sandile have the brains of walnuts." A few moments of silence passed, until Scrafty spoke again. "Isn't that right, Special Officers Absol and Sudowoodo?"

The two Scraggy looked at each other in confusion until they saw the bushes behind them start to shake, and out popped up Absol and Sudowoodo, looking ready to fight, with a scared Marta behind them.

Scrafty kept his poker face on, while the two Scraggy looked petrified. "Honestly, I thought you'd find a better hiding spot than that," he taunted. "Why would Magnezone Prison send a Ground-Type and a Dark-Type to take out Fighting-Type Pokémon? What kind of idiots are yous people?"

"Enough of this!" Absol shouted at them. "You're under arrest. You should know that type advantages don't make a battle. Battle is based purely on skill, and unless you yield now we'll-"

Suddenly, Absol felt a horrible force emanating from her horn, causing her whole body to freeze. She had felt this presence several times, and it only meant one thing: a disaster was approaching. She felt the presence coming from the middle of the forest.

"Ms. Absol?" Marta said, pulling at the Disaster Pokémon's fur, wondering what was troubling her.

"Absol detect disasters before they happen, don't theys?" Scrafty mused. "Seems to me like the show is about to begin. "

A large tremor rocked the entire forest. Dozens of bird Pokémon flew off into the distant from the shock of the shake. A faint glow of red and yellow radiated from the center of the forest and smoked started to fill the sky. Shouting and screams could be heard as well.

Marta's body was trembling as the distant fire cackled in her ears. "M-m-m…m-my…" Everything was moving too fast. Her mind became overloaded from all of this information and lost control of her body. "MY VILLAGE!"

Marta bolted into the depths of the forest, shocking Absol. "Marta, no!"

Absol began chasing after the girl with Sudowoodo in pursuit only to stop after one small step, hearing a strong gust of wind behind them. They turned around to find Scrafty and his henchmen atop a tree branch look down upon them sporting victorious grins.

"Well, looks like yous guys got your hands full," Scrafty said. "We'll just be showin' ourselves out. Have a nice day, you twos!"

"STOP!" Absol ordered. But the three outlaws already stole into the forest.

Absol became very conflicted. She knew that the main priority was to capture Scrafty and his goons, yet a Pokémon Officer should always put the safety of other Pokémon first. But certainly if she let Scrafty get away more Pokémon would be victimized by him.

"Should we split up?" Sudowoodo suggested as if reading his partner's mind.

Absol shook her head. "No, both of these situations would require are undivided attention. You better call back-up!"

"Right!" Sudowoodo took out his police badge pressed the button in the middle of the Pokeball-shaped badge. The button began to blink. "This is Special Officer Sudowoodo in hot pursuit of an outlaw in Tamira Forest. Star-two. Species Scrafty. Requesting back-up. There's a fire raging in the heart of the forest. Water-type Pokémon also requested."

Only the sound of the fire in the distance was heard for a brief moment until a voice was heard from the badge. "Copy, Special Officer. Back-up is on the way."

"I'll stall Scrafty! You follow Marta!" Absol said immediately after the transmission ended, not wasting time.

The two bolted off in opposite directions.

_Back at the heart of the forest, war broke out as the three tribes clashed in a violent battle. Trees and homes were lit ablaze but the Samurott tribe did nothing to stop the flames. They instead focused their energy on the Emboar tribe. Mothers tried to hide their young ones from the Hydro Pumps and Leaf Tornados and Flamethrowers that desecrated the area._

Marta's eyes searched around in the orange glow of the night for her kin. She found her father trying to hold back a Samurott. Two other Samurott were unconscious (or at least Marta hoped they were) around him. Her father looked as if he was reaching his limit.

Marta ran up to him. "Father!"

Marta's father glanced back at his daughter for only a brief moment before returning his attention to his attacker. "Marta! Go! Get out of here! It's too dangerous! Run!"

Marta shook her head frantically, resisting her father. "No! I won't leave you behind-"

"There's no time to argue!" her father interrupted. "Run now or else you'll die!"

Marta still tried to protest, refusing to leave her father. "But, father…"

"NOW!"

Marta was about to open her mouth once more until she noticed a projectile covered in fire – A Pignite using Heat Crash, to be more exact – was charging at her at an alarming rate. The horror of the situation froze her entire body. The only thing she could do was scream and brace for impact. However, just before impact, something else tackled her out of the way. The Pignite crashed into a nearby tree, causing it to catch on fire and tip over.

Marta opened her eyes and found herself in her brother's arms. "Are you OK?" Arthur asked.

Marta nodded, and she instantly remembered her father's plight. "Wait, father…! Where's father?"

_Those final moments of my father…_

Marta saw as the Samurott began to overpower her tired father. It smacked her father down to the ground, and its horn atop its head began to glow.

…_the images are still burned into my brain…_

Megahorn connected with the Serperior. His battered body slammed on the ground. He could barely open his eyes after the powerful blow. Samurott's horn began to glow once again. It used Megahorn once again, this time piercing through the body of the Serperior.

_Maybe I could've helped? No…I probably would've just gotten killed. But still, just standing there as I watched it happen…It was terrible._

"FAAAATHHHHEEEEER!"

Tear began rolling down Marta's cheeks. Arthur held back tears of his own. This was no time to grief over the death of his father. He had to be strong both for himself and Marta. If they didn't get out of there they were done for.

"Marta, we have to get out of here, now!" Arthur pulled up his shaking sister off the ground.

Once she was on her feet Marta looked in terror at the Pignite about to breathe a Falmethrower at them. Once Arthur noticed too, he acted as a shield for Marta as the fire was moving toward them. However, the fire never hit them. Instead, another Pokémon acted as their shield. Once the flames subsided, they saw the Pokémon was Sudowoodo.

"M-Mr. Sudowoodo!" Marta cried in surprise.

Being a Ground-type, Sudowoodo barely felt the flames on his back at all. He got right up and turned to the fighting villagers. "Please, you must stop!" he pleaded. "You don't know what you're doing!"

While most of the villagers ignored or didn't hear the Special Officer, those who did acknowledge him wouldn't hear him out.

"Oh, and YOU do!-?"

"For all we know you could be the one out to get us!"

"Let's get him!"

As Serperior and Samurott began crowding around Sudowoodo getting ready to attack, Sudowoodo couldn't help up whisper meekly to himself, "Is it too late for Abby and I to trade?"

As Leaf Storms and Hydro Pumps were being launched at Sudowoodo, the officer grabbed the two Pokémon and leaped out of the way of the attacks. A small explosion caused smoke to fill the area, giving the three a chance to make their escape. The three darted off to another end of the village.

"What are we doing?" Marta asked, gasping for breath.

"We're running!" Sudowoodo answered.

"WHAT!-? Running!-?" Arthur said. "That's your plan!-?"

"Running is a plan isn't it!"

Meanwhile, at the edge of the woods, Scrafty began to laugh to himself at how easy this was. Here he was, outrunning the greatest officers on the force and his plan going perfectly. Sure, being chased out by the fuzz was a minor setback in his plan, but all he had to do was go into hiding for a little while then come right back for all that treasure. Was there anything he couldn't pull off? He was the greatest of the great and soon everyone would know his name.

"Where we goin boss?" One of the Scraggy's said as the trio was running through the forest.

"As far away as possible!" Scrafty told him. "We needs to get away from those-"

As if on cue, Absol jumped down from atop of trees and blocked the path of the three outlaws. Caught off guard at first, Scrafty reassembled his poker face and stood tall. "Fine, you wanna pick a fight?" he said. "Take this!"

Scrafty jumped up high and began to perform a knee kick called Hi Jump Kick. The move would have hit perfectly if Absol had not used to Detect to skillfully dodge the attack. Scrafty instead kicked himself in the face, causing him to fall backward in a great amount of pain. The two Scraggy quickly rushed to help him up.

Once on his feet again, Scrafty chuckled. "Not bad, not bad. Perhaps I was a bit cocky. How about this?"

Scrafty began to meditate for a moment until enough energy filled up in his fist. Scrafty launched Focus Punch at his opponent, but to his surprise Absol vanished upon impact. By the time he realized the officer had used Double Team on him, it was too late. After his fist swung at the air, the real Absol emerged and charged at Scrafty with all her strength, using Giga Impact.

And just like that, Scrafty was down for the count.

The Scraggy were in disbelief at the sight of their master being taken down so easily. It was then that the Scraggy remembered that Absol would be immobilized after using that powerful move. Looking at the Special Officer, they saw she was gasping for breath, trying quickly to regain her strength. The two grinned menacingly at each other.

They rushed over to attack the defenseless officer when a bunch of Magnemite began surrounding them. Before the two could react the Magnemite shocked them with all they had. The two were down instantly.

Having finally regained her strength, she thanked the Magnemite for coming to her side. A Jellicent and a Blastoise emerged from the trees to greet the Special Officers.

"Silver Officers Jellicent and Balstoise," the Jellicent announced. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you," Absol said, quickly changing the subject. "We need to douse that fire! There are innocent Pokémon who live here!"

Back at the burning village, Sudowoodo hid behind a fallen tree, with Arthur and Marta beside him. They were all gasping for air after their little jog.

"Well, what're we doing behind here?" an impatient Arthur asked. "Marta said you were a Special Officer! Well, live up to that name and stop all of this!"

Sudowoodo shook his head, continuing to gasp for air. "Sorry kid, but I'm out of my element here. Even if I am stronger the average Sudowoodo that doesn't mean I'm immune to type advantages. There are some strong Grass and Water-types out there. I'd be dead in an instant."

Arthur chose to ignore Sudowoodo's logic. He passed himself off as this great fighter and yet he's too afraid to handle a bit of water? What a joke. He could do his job better than anyone could, Arthur was sure of it. And he was going to prove it.

"Fine!" Arthur shouted, hoping onto his feet. "If you're not gonna stop them, I will!"

"Big bro, wait!"

Marta's cries were unheard as her brother leapt over the tree and into battle. Sudowoodo tried to grab him but by that time he was too late. He was gone. And to add insult to injury, his leave outed their hiding spot and an Emboar spotted them. Sudowoodo sprang to his feet, ready to face his opponent, while Marta cowered behind him.

Emboar was ready to smash Sudowoodo using Hammer Arm only to be attacked by several blades formed through psychic abilities. The Emboar was K.O'd in an instant. The source of the Psycho Cut was from Absol.

The Disaster Pokémon dashed up to the two. "Can't I trust you to do anything?" Absol barked at Sudowoodo.

"Everybody's a critic!" Sudowoodo sighed. "I can't handle all of these guys by myself, Abby!"

"Back-ups here. We'll take care of it," Absol assured him. "You grab Marta and bring her to safety."

Sudowoodo nodded in agreement and grabbed Marta, fleeing from the area. Marta wanted to argue and tell them she wouldn't leave Arthur behind, but it was pointless. Everybody seemed to be more concerned about Marta's safety than anyone else's.

Sudowoodo searched around frantically for a place where Marta would be safe. "Hey Marta, you know this place better than I do. Any good hiding spots?"

Marta searched her brain for an answer. "Umm…I heard rumors about a secret cave behind Floatzel Lake."

"Where is that?"

Marta pointed northeast and Sudowoodo followed her directions. Once he found the lake in question he looked behind the waterfall. There was indeed a cave behind there. It was perfect. The only thing is water didn't exactly agree with Sudowoodo. But he had no choice. Holding his breath, he leapt into the lake. It was then that he remembered: he couldn't swim. Funny what you forget in times of great peril.

Sudowoodo frantically clawed his way back up to the surface with Marta. The Ground-type gasped for air. That wasn't exactly his shining moment. He turned to the Snivy. "Hey, you think you can swim over there?" Marta nodded. "Good. Listen, I need for you to swim over there and stay in that cave until either me or Abby come back for you. Got it?"

Marta nodded solemnly. Sudowoodo rushed back to the heart of the forest, while Marta swam over to the cave. It was surprisingly roomy. The sound of the roaring waterfall echoed throughout the cave, drowning out the sound of the fire.

_That was the longest night of my life. I didn't sleep a wink. My worries made sure of that. I didn't know what was going on outside aside from the occasional tremor or two. Once light shone through the waterfall, my curiosity got the best of me and I swam outside._

Marta's eyes adjusted from the dark cave to the bright sun. Judging on the outside of the forest you would never tell there was a forest fire just last night. Entering the forest there were quite a few burnt trees scattered around. Marta could hardly imagine what her village was like now.

Suddenly, she heard a tree start to tip over. She turned around and was stunned to find a tree leaning right toward her. She wanted to run but her feet wouldn't leave the ground. Just before the tree hit her, however, someone or something pushed her out of the way. Once the tree crashed onto the forest floor and she got off the ground, Marta saw it was Absol.

Marta was alarmed to see all of the cuts and bruises covered on Absol's body. "Ms. Absol, are you OK!-?"

A sore Absol forced herself off the ground and smiled for Marta. "What, all this? This is nothing."

Marta wasn't convinced at all, but a more pressing matter was on her mind: "What happened last night?"

Absol's face dropped. She starred at the floor. "We…We did all we could. But nothing would stop their rage. They…They…"

Marta was too antsy to wait for Absol to finish her sentence. She darted off to her village. Well, where her village USED to be. Now you can barely make out where the houses used to be. Piles of ash littered the entire area. Magnemite and some Water Pokémon roamed the area, along with only a few residents from the villages. A large hospital tent was in the middle of the rubble.

Marta couldn't believe it. It was…gone. Her village, her family and friends….her family…and…

Marta rushed to the tallest branch of the nearest tree to get a better view. She began shouting at the top of her lungs. "JOEY! BRIAN! ARTHUR! MOM! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS!" Absol arrived at the scene and stared at Marta downtrodden. "Where are you guys!" Tears began to escape her eyes. "Where…where are…"

As much as Marta tried to deny it (and believe she tried her hardest) but she had to come to terms: They were gone. Everyone was gone. Just like that. Her world was crumbled in only one night. Marta couldn't hold back her tears any longer and wept up there in the large tree.

As she saw Marta weep, Absol felt a combination of sorrow and anger. It amazed her every day how cold-hearted these outlaws could be. Absol witnessed a lot of disasters in her time and this was one of the worst. How much treasure was worth the lives of all these Pokémon? How could Pokémon like Scrafty look at their own reflections?

After a few minutes Absol was able to coax Marta out from the tree. Wiping the tears out of her eyes, she turned her attention to the hospital tent. She immediately rushed over to it. By some miracle one of her friends or family might have survived. Absol joined her.

Audino emerged from the tent with two Happiny by her side. She bowed politely to Marta and Absol. Her face was especially downtrodden. "Good morning Special Officer Absol. Little girl…"

"How is everyone?" Absol asked.

Audino shook her head. "We tried everything we could, but we were only able to save a few. I'm so sorry."

"I see…"

Marta interjected. "Um, miss, my name is Marta…"

A smile formed on Audino's face. "Nice to meet you. My name is Audino. I'm the nurse at Treetop Village, not too far from here. These are my assistants, the Happiny."

"Hi there!" the two Happiny chimed together.

Marta had only heard of Treetop Village once before from her elder when he visited there. He had favorable things to say about it. "Ms. Audino, is there a Tepig named Joey in there, or maybe a Oshawott named Brian?" she asked. "And a Servine named Arthur, too! What about a Serperior named Jessica?"

The frown returned to Audino's face. "I'm sorry; we did not receive any of the patient's names. There are still a few in there, if you wish to find your friends."

Marta quickly bolted into the tent and was horrified at what she saw. There were tons of severely injured Pokémon around the tent being attended to by Happiny. Some of the bodies in the beds were covered by blankets, which added to the horror as there were a lot of bodies covered with blankets. She could only guess what that meant…

She scanned the area but found no traces of her friends and family. The only one that stood out was Sudowoodo, was a deeply wounded in a bed in the corner.

"Mr. Sudowoodo!" Marta cried, rushing over to his side. Sudowoodo forced his eyes open along with a smile. "H-Hey Marta, how goes it…?"

"D-Do you know what happened to Arthur?" Marta asked. It might have been a bit insensitive not to ask about Sudowoodo's condition, but she was way more concerned about her brother than the Special Officer at the moment.

Sudowoodo looked more pain stricken than before. "I'm sorry Marta…I don't know what happened to him after he darted off…"

Marta refused to accept that. "No, there has to be someone I know who survived!" He began to shake Sudowoodo, which caused him a deal of pain. "Please, Mr. Sudowoodo, I-"

A duo of Happiny pushed Marta away from the officer and blocked her from him. "You mustn't disturb the patients!" They sternly said.

Marta held back more tears. "I…I'm sorry."

Marta trudged outside, continuing to wallow in her misery. Of course not being made of stone Absol strolled over to comfort the young Snivy. "Marta…" she began, "I know words of condolence won't raise the dead, but you should feel proud. If it weren't for you we would've given up our investigation here and a lot more Pokémon could have died."

Marta said nothing. Absol continued. "Listen, Marta…seeing as though you have nobody else to turn back on, I just want you to know that if there is anything you need you come find me in Treetop Village. I'll look out for you."

Marta looked up to Absol and saw that motherly smile that was painted on her face. Absol WAS very nice and Marta had grown close to her over such a short time. She wouldn't mind spending more time with her.

Marta smiled for the first time that day. "Thank you, Ms. Absol…"

_So for the next month or so I stayed with Absol in Treetop Forest until I was well enough to get back on my own two feet. There wasn't anyone else remaining in my village that I could trust, and all the survivors went on their separate ways as well. That was when I moved into that cave in Floatzel Lake. Living there makes me feel safe. Plus I wanted to be close to Tamira Forest. They cleaned up the forest, and now you can barely make out where the village was. Now it's just a distant memory…_

_And yet it still haunts me to this day._

* * *

The coldness of night blew through the forest as it slept. The sound of Hoothoot echoed through the calm and silent night. All Pokémon in the area were peacefully sleeping except for Bullet. Marta's story…He couldn't get it out of his head. Though as detailed as the story was his question remained unanswered. What was her reason for joining the force? Revenge? Justice? Hatred?

She gave no explanation after the story was over. After all that pain she felt just from recounting those memories she wanted desperately to change the subject.

"_Anyway," she said with a plastic smile, "I really shouldn't be talking about my problems. We should focus on getting you memories back."_

_Bullet just shook his head and leapt onto his feet. "Nah…I mean, how would we go about getting my memories back? Hitting me over the head?" Bullet joked. "I figure we should just wait for my memories to come back naturally. You can't force it. So for now, I'll just help you the best I can Marta."_

"_Yeah, OK…" Marta replied. The disappointment in her tone was rather curious._

_Bullet tried offering words of encouragement to help brighten the mood. "You know, maybe Arthur, Joey and Brian are still out there somewhere. You never know."_

"_I guess…" His words had little effect._

The rest of the night was painfully awkward. Eventually they agree to go to sleep early for training tomorrow.

_Perhaps training tomorrow will help us get our mind off it,_ Bullet thought before drifting off.

* * *

**A/N**: Whoa, that was LONG. I'll try and make the chapters shorter in the future. And more about Bullet. xD Chapter 4 coming soon!


	4. Graduation Test

Over time Bullet started to uncover traits about himself he had forgotten after losing his memories. For example, he sometimes said things without thinking, as learned yesterday after he encountered a Trubbish for the first time and said some insulting things out of shock. He liked to think of it as a 'natural reaction' to seeing a walking bag of garbage walking right toward you, which he had argued as the Trash Bag Pokémon began to cry. But the young Pokémon's Garbodor father offered him a little rebuttal that still made his nose sore. It certainly didn't help that Marta was hysterically laughing at the whole scene.

Bullet also noticed that he was able to pick up on little things. He noticed that whenever Marta lied the leaf on her tail would curl up a little. He noticed that when she told him she joined the force 'just because,' and when she told him she had 'no idea' what happened to his Grass Juice he got at the Spinda Café.

He also noticed that the Apprentice Officers were working a lot harder than usually the past few days. Though it wasn't so much a little pick-up as much as it was just completely obvious. Squad Leaf tried picking up the pace as well so they wouldn't stick out, though they still wondered why they were straining themselves. One day after training, however, they got their answer.

"I really hope I get picked for the Graduation Test this month," Bayleef confessed to Kirlia and Sewaddle. "I've been an Apprentice Officer for too long."

"I'm sure you lost some points with Exploud after you failed it when you were given the chance," Kirlia reminded her. Bayleef hung her head, knowing she was right.

"I know I'm got gonna get picked! I NEVER GET PICKED!" Sewaddle wailed, beginning to fidget around.

Bullet and Marta decided to join in on the conversation. "What Graduation Test?" Marta asked.

Kirlia turned her attention to the newest apprentices. "Every three months Exploud administrates a test for select apprentices he feels are ready to become Normal Officers. These tests normally involve going to some dangerous mystery dungeon and find some item. It's harder than it sounds."

A mystery dungeon…Bullet knew very little about them. He had only heard little snippets about them from gossiping villagers or officers. From what he heard, they were places that changed their layout every time you visited them. Marta told him that Tamira Forest was also a mystery dungeon, which would explain why he sometimes got lost there.

"The tests used to be only once, maybe twice a year," Phanphy intervened, ambling up to the group. "After the moon was destroyed, Magnezone requested Exploud streamline the process a bit, since more officers are needed thanks to increase of crime."

"Even still, Exploud sometimes skips the test altogether if he doesn't think anyone is ready yet," Bayleef explained. In her best Exploud impression, she said: "'I don't care if the entire world is crumbling below us! I'm not sending unseasoned apprentices into battle,' is what he always says."

Aside from what Bayleef just said, Marta was excited. "Cool! You think we could get picked?"

Axew could be heard laughing hard from behind. "Get real!" Axew scoffed. "You two would never qualify."

Bullet scowled at the Pokémon. "Tell me Axew, if you think you're better than us how come you're not a Normal Officer yet?"

Axew was unaffected by his taunt. "I will be soon. Exploud is announcing who will qualify tomorrow, and it's gonna be yours truly." With that, Axew strolled off.

Kirlia rolled her eyes as the apprentice walked away. "Y'know, you two probably have as good a chance as anyone else. To Exploud it doesn't matter how long you've been here, but how good you are." Kirlia turned her attention to Slowking napping on the ground. She sighed. "One thing's for sure, Slowking isn't going to be picked anytime soon."

* * *

"Seismitoad? Haven't seen anyone of that name."

Victini scoffed. "How can you be Prince of the Sea if you can't even keep track of who's in it?"

"PRINCESS of the Sea. Honestly, how can you be so rude Teenie?"

"Need I remind you that you're genderless?"

"So are you, and yet you still go around as male. How would you like it if you called you Miss Legendary Officer? Hm, that has a nice ring to it."

Victini found this whole conversation trivial. He had been looking for Seismitoad for two weeks now and he was starting to wonder if making the trip to Shattered Seas was really worth it. He saw him go in this direction before losing sight of him again. If he lost his trail now, it was all over.

Manaphy sat atop a large rock protruding out of the sea by the shore. Victini did the same. That day years ago, when Victini found Manaphy gravely ill along the shore and he nursed her back to health using the energy stored in his body, he had made a helpful ally and friend. Since she typically wandered aimlessly around the sea, it was rare that they saw each other.

"Isn't it a little boneheaded to go hunting for a strong Water-type all by yourself?" Manaphy asked, her hostile tone masking her concern.

"I'm also Psychic aren't I? I'll be fine." Victini said listlessly.

Manaphy sighed. "Whatever happened to the perky Silver Officer that nursed me to health?"

Victini stared up into the shattered moon lingering over their heads for answer. "That Victini died a long time ago…with this world…"

"…That's deep," Manaphy said sarcastically.

A huge wave crashed upon the large rock, causing the two to jump from surprise. Manaphy had a pain-stricken look on her face, as if she was sharing someone else's pain. "The sea is angered…"

Victini glared at his companion. "The sea has no emotion. It's merely acting like this because of the moon."

Manaphy glared right back. "Oh, that's right. I forgot you were a Legendary Water-type. Oh, wait, that's me." She turned her head to the sea, looking to be in some sort of trance as the gentle sound of waves (which was odd considering the massive wave that just hit) crashing on the shore was the only thing that could be heard. "The sea wishes for peace…to be rid of this disaster…"

Victini was not sure whether or not Manaphy was simply crazy or she was trying to illustrate her true feelings through something else. Either way, he did not care. "Tell the sea to grow up," he said coldly.

Almost suddenly, another large wave crashed onto the rock, nearly hitting Victini. Manaphy suppressed a laugh. "The sea doesn't take to kindly to your words."

Victini passed this off as merely a coincidence, not buying into Manaphy's 'talking sea' nonsense. "Seismitoad is not here," Manaphy said suddenly. "Though I sensed his leave. He swam all the way to the coastline of Malevolent Mountain."

Victini groaned. Malevolent Mountain would be no problem to get to by seas, but by foot it might take him a day or two, and it would be a miracle if Seismitoad were still there by the time he got there. And the situation wasn't getting any better from him just sitting on this rock. He didn't even want to touch the fact how Manaphy just suddenly knew where Seimsitoad was. She was concealing the fact for whatever reason.

He got up, which cause Manaphy to jump in surprise. "You're going?" she said in a doleful tone.

"There's no time to waste. I have to chase after him."

Manaphy lowered her head. "Well, just…be careful. I'd hate to see anything bad happen to you."

Victini didn't turn around, or he would have noticed the tint of pink on her cheeks. He smirked. "May our paths cross again."

The Legendary Officer disappeared into the shadows of the night. Manaphy dived into the sea, braving the harsh tides the sea thrashed about.

* * *

Anticipation swelled up in the bodies of the apprentices as Exploud stood before them. Roll call couldn't be any slower. They ignored Exploud's opening lectures about 'kids these days' and 'how lazy they all are.'

The ears perked when Exploud finally said, "Alright, time to pick who gets to GRADUATE." The apprentices leaned forward and eyed the scrap of paper Exploud conjured up. "Those who get picked, step forward." He cleared his throat and read the names. "First off is Kirlia."

Kirlia was taken aback as everyone cheered for her (except for Axew). She didn't expect to get picked at all. She forced her trembling feet to step forward behind Exploud. "I…I did it!" she squealed. She knew her graduation hadn't even begun and that she probably wouldn't win, but just the privilege of being tested, knowing she was good enough…that was enough for now.

Not wanting to waste precious training time, Exploud continued right away. "Next is Axew."

Axew wasn't surprised at all, though he was surprised only Sewaddle cheered for him. Though it didn't matter what these pinheads thought of him. It only mattered that he would finally become a Normal Officer. He stepped proudly forward. "Was there ever any doubt?" Axew gloated.

Ignoring Axew's snarky comment, Exploud went on. "And last is…" As much as Exploud wanted to get this done with, he did enjoy seeing the anxious Pokémon sweat. It was amusing, and in these times he needed a good laugh or two, what with Mangezone breathing down his neck all the time for new recruits.

Not wanted to toy with the recruits anymore, he cleared his throat once again. "And finally is Squad Leaf."

Everyone was silent and stood in shock. Nobody expected THE Y would qualify for graduation so quickly. The most shocked of all was Marta. She couldn't move. Her mind was trying its best to accept what just happened, and she nearly forgot to breathe. A few moments passed before a cheer erupted from the other apprentices.

Bullet began to step forward and noticed that Marta did not follow him. He rolled his eyes and started dragging Marta up to Axew and Kirlia.

While Marta was beginning to regain her composure, the other apprentices talked amongst themselves.

"Hm, I guess I really did lose points. Oh well!"

"Aw, they got picked and I didn't?"

"Like you'd get picked, Slowking. You're always asleep."

"ACK! I KNEW I WOULDN'T GET PICKED!"

"Alright, shut yer TRAPS!" Exploud shouted. "We're starting training as we NOMRALLY do. Let's go!"

Training went on as it normally did, except Marta was much clumsier than she usually was. She tried to get her head in the game so Exploud wouldn't reconsider. She still couldn't believe in a million years she would even get considered in the first place. Bullet seemed neutral about the whole situation, which made sense to her. It wasn't like it was his dream or anything. He was just along for the ride.

Once training was finished the chosen for the Graduation Test stayed behind to receive a briefing from Exploud.

"Alright, listen UP," he began. "Don't get your hopes up because you got accepted for testing. The hard part hasn't even STARTED! Now, the objective of this test is simple. All you have to do is retrieve an item. Before you start thinking that'll be an easy task, it isn't! You'll be finding the item at Malevolent Mountain."

Worry began to creep on the apprentices faces. Bullet had never heard of the place, but with a title like that it was obvious it wasn't the safest place in the world.

"You'll know the item when you see it. It's a Perfect Apple."

"A Perfect Apple? That seems random," Marta commented.

"It isn't random! It's what HE would've done…" Realizing he was spacing off, he shook off the memories. "DON'T QUESTION ME YOU LITTLE TWERP!" he scolded. Marta sheepishly stepped back. "You all have until TONIGHT to retrieve the item or you all fail. Don't go in unprepared or you're asking for trouble. Be here with it TOMORROW, same time as always."

After everyone else left, Marta still stood there, looking like she was about to explode. Which she did, with huge excitement. "Bullet, we did it! Let's show them what we've got!"

Bullet nodded. "You bet!"

* * *

"Hey, Energy Ball is on sale today!"

"Don't you already learn it through leveling up?"

"So? Doesn't hurt to learn it early. It's a good move."

"Yeah, but I think we might need another Reviver Seed."

"We got plenty of those!"

"They also have Grass Gummis too. They don't normally have that."

The shiny Kecleon brother intervened. "Come now, no arguing! I'm sure there's a reasonable solution."

"Yes, indeed!" The normal-colored Kecleon chimed in. "Not many Grass-types live here. The Grass Gummis will be here next time for you, we're sure of it!"

Marta thought it over for a brief moment. She was in a hurry to get to the mountain before Kirlia or Axew got there. A powerful move would lower the need for Reviver Seeds, and they didn't need IQ at the moment. It was for the best they bought the move. "Alright, get Energy Ball."

"Sweet!" Bullet exclaimed, taking out a large sum of Poké.

Once Squad Leaf was done with their shopping, the Special Officer Smeargle dashed up to the Kecleon Brothers holding a painting of an ocean during a sunset. "I'm telling you, this is my best work yet! You need to sell my art!"

The brothers' welcoming smiles vanished as an annoyed look took over. "We will tell you the same thing time and time again! We will never sell your amateur art in our shop!" The normal-colored Kecleon retorted.

Smeargle looked as though someone had just punched him in the stomach. "A-Amateur! Y…You wouldn't no good art if it slapped you across the face!" With that, Smeargle stormed off.

"How did that guy EVER become a Special Officer?" Bullet asked himself. Absol and Sudowoodo, who were walking by, approached the two.

"He is a skilled fighter," Absol told him, joining the conversation. "Though it amazes me he still keeps his rank since he is always painting instead of doing work."

"Whatcha up to?" Sudowoodo asked.

"Well, we're taking our Graduation Test, so-"

"Wow, already?" Sudowoodo's booming voice surprised her. "That's awesome!"

"I'm very proud," Absol added sweetly.

Marta looked embarrassed. "Y-Yeah, though I still don't think we'll pass-"

"I told you a million times we'll be fine!" Bullet interrupted, sternness in his voice.

Marta wished she had Bullet's confidence. Snivy were supposed to cool, collected and brave but instead she was just being a little coward. It was very out of character. She was able to get this far, so she had to muster up her courage and face this test head on.

"Yeah, you're right…" she said, trying to sound confident only to fail. "Well, we should get to Malevolent Mountain before the others! Let's go!"

Squad Leaf rushed toward their destination, leaving behind a surprised Absol and Sudowoodo.

"Malevolent Mountain?" Sudowoodo murmured to himself. "What is Exploud thinking?"

Absol chuckled lightly. "You have to admit, Marta has really changed. A month ago she would've cowered at the mention of a place like that. This must be how a mother feels watching her child grow before her eyes…"

"Yeah, and it's all thanks to that Bullet kid!" Sudowoodo chimed. "He really turned her around."

Absol nodded solemnly. "Bullet…I wonder, where did she meet him? How did they meet?"

Sudowoodo looked confused. "Does it matter?"

Absol began to speak whatever came onto her mind. "It's just…I've never seen Bullet around here until a month ago. He never talks about himself at all. And whenever I'm around him…" she paused. "My horn twitches slightly…"

Sudowoodo looked very surprised, and even the Kecleon Brothers leaned forward in shock. Absol saw their worried looks and laughed it off. "I'm sure it's nothing. Bullet is a good kid. He would never do anything bad."

That was the last word Absol had on the subject as she walked away.

* * *

_Walk it off, Axew. Just walk it off…_

Perhaps it wasn't the wisest idea to rush into Malevolent Mountain. Pokémon were always telling him 'you need to be prepared for anything' and 'don't let your ego get to you.' Of course he ignored them completely, thinking he was tough enough for anything. But having taking a beating from some of the wild Pokémon, he began to wonder if he really had what it took. Did he really just have an ego problem?

_No, it's just a fluke! You're the best and you know it!_

The Pokémon indigenous to this area consisted mostly of Ground-types and Normal-types, but he had seen a Fire-type and an Electric-type along the way. Malevolent Mountain was a very easy climb. The only thing that made it 'malevolent' was the Pokémon. A lot of explorers used to love climbing up this mountain and so did other Pokémon. Now it's way too dangerous. On the other end of the mountain there was a rocky cove, which was probably where the Perfect Apple was. Axew was sure of it.

He was nearing the peak. There was no time to stop, or else those other apprentices would get to the apple. He was a little worried about Kirlia. There was no denying she was tough. But those Squad Leaf newbies? There was no chance they would graduate in a million years. He shouldn't worry about them. In fact, he shouldn't worry about anyone. It was a waste of time. He had to keep going.

Axew stopped in his tracks when he heard the sound of something rotating rapidly. The sound was getting louder at an alarming rate. Before he could even turn around to find the source of the sound he felt something smash into him with incredible force. He slammed onto the mountain floor in great pain. He felt his vision and his consciousness fade away. He could only hear the sounds of unknown entities.

"Damnit, it isn't him. I really need to start looking before I drill."

"What is an Axew doing here, sire? You don't see many of those here."

"How should I know? Everybody seems to be coming up here all of a sudden! I didn't think this job would be THAT hard!"

"Should we take him for ransom like the others we've defeated, sire?"

"Of course! If we can't capture this guy we'll at least make a couple Poké off him."

Axew's hearing began to slowly fade as his consciousness went with it. The last thing he remembered, he was being dragged away somewhere.

_I can't believe this….Maybe I am too weak…_

* * *

With a crack of her Vine Whip the Sandile was swatted aside.

Bullet panted heavily as he caught up to his partner on the mountain pass. "Hey, can we take a break for a second? We've fought a lot of Pokémon… "

Marta pondered it for a moment. She WAS very tired, but they were almost at the peak. She was sure that the Perfect Apple was there. If not, the cove would be her next guess. Even though they were almost there, it would be horrible if they were knocked out by a Pokémon on the way there. It would be best to stop for a second.

She pulled out two Oran Berries from her bag and handed one of them to Bullet. "Here, take it. We'll rest up for a bit."

Bullet sat on the hard floor with a sigh of relief and took the Oran Berry. "Phew…thanks."

Marta sat down as well, staying vigilant. They were able to take on the wild Pokémon here down quickly most of the time, seeing as they had a type advantage. Still, this place had a way of throwing wild cards at them so it didn't hurt to be on guard. Bullet tried to strike a conversation with the Snivy but she only gave one-word answers as she looked around. This annoyed the human Treecko quite a bit.

Bullet noticed she wasn't paying that much attention to him. Very carefully, trying not to snicker, he picked himself up off the ground and snuck up behind her. Then, as loud as he could, he shouted "Boo!"

Caught off guard and without thinking, Marta jumped and whipped whatever was behind her right in the nose. Before she struck again she realized that the entity was her partner, rubbing his throbbing nose. Instead of feeling apologetic, she simply glared at Bullet for playing the joke on her. It served him right.

"Ow…" he groaned.

Marta rolled her eyes. "Grow up."

"Yeesh, you need to loosen up a bit. I know there's a lot of pressure to pass but you don't have to be so tense."

Marta paused for a moment. She took a deep breath. It was true. She was getting too tense. "I'm sorry Bullet," she sighed. "I just-"

Tiny whimpering was heard from behind the Snivy. Squad Leaf spotted a small Togepi crying its eyes out and looking lost. The team quickly rushed to its side.

"What's wrong?" Bullet asked the Togepi.

Togepi had not noticed the two Pokémon that had come up to him through his tears. He shrieked in surprise after hearing their voices and then wiped away his tears. He got a good look at the two Pokémon in front of him. They didn't SEEM bad, but his brother had said he was too trusting. But that didn't matter now.

"Th-They took my Mommy and Daddy! And my brother too!" The Togepi sobbed violently.

"Who did?" Marta asked.

Togepi could barely form words from his tears. "Th-Th-These b-big mean P-P-Pokémon! Th-They…ave m-my family…nd a-a-a P-Pokémon with th-these tusk th-things…!"

_Tusk things?_ Bullet thought. He turned to Marta. "You think he means Axew?"

"P-P-Please h-help!"

Marta was about to get off her feet and accept the small Pokémon's cry for help before she stopped in her tracks. There was still the matter of retrieving the item. It was true that helping the Togepi's family was more important, but this was what she had worked so hard for. And who knows what kind of Pokémon they would be dealing with if they did try to save his family? They could just wind of getting caught themselves. That could be what happened to Axew. But if she let him and his family experience what she did…What was the right thing to do?

"What should I do…?" Marta whispered to herself.

Bullet was fortunate enough to hear this. He got up on his feet. "Why don't you go get the item while I help out Togepi here?" Bullet said as if reading his partner's mind.

Marta was wide-eyed. "Huh? But...It might be dangerous!"

Bullet shrugged. "I'll create a diversion."

Was it right? Should she risk the safety of Axew, Togepi's family and her close friend just so she could graduate? The whole point of her becoming a Pokémon Officer was so that she could protect those in danger. So they wouldn't have to suffer the way she did all those years. Now she had the chance, but she was just being selfish. _Well, not anymore! _she thought angrily. Her title didn't matter. It only mattered she was there and able to help.

"No!" Marta said. "I'm going to he-Hey!" She had been so absorbed in thought she hadn't noticed that Togepi was already leading Bullet to his kidnapped kin. "You couldn't wait for me to answer!"

"We got antsy!" Bullet shouted back with a teasing look.

This time, Marta laughed. "Jerk!" she shouted playfully, rushing up to the two.

* * *

One of the Drilburs paced around nervously, while not taking his eye off of the two Togekiss, Togetic and the Axew that were tied up in the corner (and believe him, tying up Togekisses was quite the challenge). The Axew especially. He had a lot of fight in him.

"Master Excadrill, sire, I think we should have chased after that Togepi," another Drilbur spoke. "He might rat us out."

"You worry too much," The Excadrill leader assured him. "Our employer will be back for a progress report soon. We'll tell him our new plan of using hostages instead of fighting this other Pokémon. He'll love it and we'll make some easy Poké." Holding hostages seemed like a more logical approach. They kept attacking the wrong Pokémon and they wouldn't even know where to find the other. Besides, he couldn't just let these Pokémon go after what they've seen.

The Drilbur sighed. "I hope you're right, sire."

Togepi had lead Squad Leaf into a small cave along the side of the mountain. It was there they found Excadrill and his gang plotting whatever it was they were plotting. Bullet and Marta waited behind stalagmites and other rock formations for the perfect moment for them to pounce on the gang before they spotted them. They really needed the element of surprise considering there were about five Drilburs assisting their boss.

Togepi could not stand to see his parents or his brother tied up any longer. He dashed out from behind a stalagmite he was hiding behind with Marta. She tried to grab him with her Vine Whip but he had gotten away. "Mommy! Daddy!"

The Excadrill gang and their hostages were all surprised by the Pokémon's sudden outburst. Excadrill gave a sly grin. "See, Drilbur? Your worrying was for nothing. It's right there."

Excadrill began to creep toward the Spike Ball Pokémon. Togepi was too frozen in fear to do anything. He began to regret ever opening his big mouth. The Subterrene Pokémon was ready to slash the small Pokémon. His parents and brother couldn't look at this horrible action. Excadrill was suddenly halted by a rock being smashed into his face. He stumbled backwards as his lackies came to his sides. He saw the Treecko and Snivy in front of him. He was red with anger. "Beat it you punks! I don't know what you're doing here, but none of this concerns you!" he shouted at the duo.

Axew stared at Squad Leaf with wide eyes. If he wasn't gagged he would shout at them to get as far away from them as possible. These guys were incredibly tough, and he knew it considering they were able to knock him out with just one hit. "We're not living without those Pokémon," Bullet said firmly. Axew was afraid he would say that.

Excadrill got ready to fight and so did his sidekicks. "Fine, then we'll just beat YOU! Let the show begin!"

Excadrill shaped himself into a drill and launched himself at the two Pokémon. They easily dodged Horn Drill as Excadrill smashed into some stalagmites. Two Driburs were able to Slash both Bullet and Marta as they jumped out of the way. They were both critical hits.

Two more Drilburs dashed toward Marta getting ready to slash her once again. The attack was blocked as she wrapped both her Vine Whips around there arms to prevent their attacks. As she was struggling to keep those two contained, another Drilbur took this opportunity to take the Snivy down. However, Bullet countered this attempt but by throwing an Energy Ball at it. The Drilbur was launched into the cave wall and was brutally injured. Marta flung the other two Drilburs aside. The injured Drilbur tried to summon the energy to attack again as it slugged toward Marta. With one crack of her Vine Whip it was knocked out.

Excadrill was silently honing his claws in the sidelines as he watched the others fight. These two should have been knocked down by now. Leave it to his henchmen to screw everything up. If they messed up he was ready to end this at any moment. It seemed that would be inevitable. At least that's what he thought to himself when he saw one of the Drilburs being knocked out by that Snivy's Leaf Blade. Only three henchmen left.

The last three Drilburs began to use Dig all over the place until the cave was covered with them, making a sort of underground tunnel system. The Drilburs hid under in the network of tunnels and jumped out to slash Squad Leaf when they were not looking. This went on for a while. Bullet knew that if this kept up they would be goners for sure. He began to look signs as to debunk their little tricks. It was then that he faintly felt them under his feet. He predicted which hole the next Drilbur would pop out of. Timing his attack, he used Quick Attack just in time to land a critical hit on a Drilbur that emerged from underground. Marta finished it off with Leaf Blade.

Using the same strategy Bullet did, Marta fished out another Drilbur from the tunnels using Vine Whip. She held him as high as he could so Bullet could get a clear shot with Energy Ball. The two were really in sync during the battle. Marta tossed the Drilbur aside after the Energy Ball successfully hit. Just one more Drilbur.

Getting impatient, Excadrill decided to interfere in the battle. He transformed into a drill once again and launched himself at Bullet. Bullet jumped out of the way, and to the Excadrill's unfortunate timing he hit the last Drilbur that popped out of another hole. Drill Run knocked out the Drilbur in an instant.

The Excadrill got on its feet and screamed in frustration. "Y-You runts…Fine! If you want a job done right, you gotta do it yourself!"

Excadrill was about to smash his drill hand into Bullet, but the Treecko smashed his tail into the Excadrill's face. Outraged, he smacked the Treecko onto the wall. He was going to finish it off when he felt the sharp pain of a Leaf Blade on his back. The Excadrill turned around and swatted Marta away. This gave Bullet the opportunity to use Absorb on Excadrill and get some energy back. He then used Energy Ball which knocked him onto the floor. Bullet and Marta charged at him to try and finish him off but Excadrill slashed the two, preventing the attack.

He got back onto his feet panting. "P-Punks! You…You won't make a fool out of me!"

"I'd say they already have."

Excadrill, along with Squad Leaf, turned around to find a giant blue toad with large bumps all over its body emerging from the shadows of the cave it was concealing itself in. It shook its head at the Excadrill. "How disappointing," the Pokémon said. It shot a huge volume of water out of its mouth and directly hit Excadrill, launching him into the cave wall. The Subterrene Pokémon struggled to keep his consciousness after the devastating Hydro Pump. "Sei…Seismi…toad…why…"

"Honestly, you're the biggest waste of Poké ever. I pay to capture the officer on my tail and instead you pull some sort of hostage angle," Seimsitoad ranted. "And to add insult to injury you and your entire team gets knocked around by a bunch of small Grass-types. Type disadvantage aside, you should have been able to vanquish these pipsqueaks no problem. Where did you find these weaklings you call your henchmen?"

Bullet decided to intervene. "And just who are you?"

Agitated, Seismitoad spat acid at the Treecko. Bullet fell back in pain as Marta went to his side. "You shut up! You don't have the privilege to ask me questions just because you were able to knock out these losers. You're going to shut up and listen to me, alright?"

"I…" Excadrill struggled to form words. "I…I'm not weakling…I…could've…If you hadn't ruined everything…!"

Seismitoad ignored the very presence of Excadrill. He knew very well that battle wouldn't end well for Excadrill. He saw all that he needed to. He might as well use the hostages. It seemed like the only approach available now. The Legendary Officer would be here any moment now. He picked up two Drilburs off the ground. He plopped Reviver Seeds into their mouths to wake them up. The two Drilburs regained consciousness and dusted themselves off, still visibly disoriented.

"You two help me tie up those two over there," he ordered them.

The two Drilburs lazily moved their eyes toward the other Pokémon in the room while still trying to reconnect with reality. Confused, they turned back to Seismitoad and said, "Which two?"

Seismitoad was about to scold them for asking such a stupid question when he turned around and saw that the hostages had been untied. This was a surprise even to Bullet and Marta. They were stuffed in the corner of the cave so it was pretty easy to miss them.

Togepi laughed nervously as all eyes were on him and the untied hostages. "Um…Since everybody else was busy I decided to untie everyone."

Sesmitoad facepalmed and grunted rather loudly. It would've been much easier just to keep on running. To think he could outsmart the tiny pest of an officer using these idiots…What was he thinking? But still, all hope wasn't lost yet. "Alright…everyone in the corner, now! Drilburs, get some rope."

Axew refused to take any more orders after being pushed around so much today. In blind fury he charged toward Seismitoad preparing Dragon Claw. Grunting in frustration, Seismitoad punched Axew with a powerful swing that sucked energy right out of Axew's body. Focus Punch left Axew sliding across the floor. Bullet and Marta were too afraid to do anything. Even though their Grass-type moves could do a devastating amount of damage on this Pokémon he was clearly too strong for them to handle.

"Honestly, can't you Pokémon take a hint? I'M. IN. CHARGE. Now I want all of you to just shut yer traps and get in the corner! NOW!"

"That's enough, Seismitoad."

Everyone in the cave turned to the voice shrouded in the shadows. From the shadows emerged Legendary Officer Victini himself. Everyone in the room was completely wide eyed at seeing the famous cop appearing out of complete nowhere. It was just one crazy event after another.

"Y-You!" Seismitoad said in shock. His eyes shifted around nervously. "S-Stand back! One of these defenseless Pokémon will get hurt if you don't!" He felt the horrible sting of the grass whip lashing onto his back, which was clearly Marta's way of objecting to being called defenseless. Both Bullet and Axew wore expressions that gave the same messages. "W…Well maybe not that one," Seismitoad grumbled to himself.

Victini groaned in frustration. "I don't know what you planned to accomplish with…this," the Legendary Officer stated, gesturing at the entire cave and the bizarre scene that had unfolded in it, "but your little game of cat and mouse is over. You're coming with and doing hard time."

Seismitoad clenched his teeth in seething rage. Once again, he summoned a huge volume of water and projected the Hydro Pump at the Victini. The Legendary Officer dodged the crippling attack by hopping atop a nearby stalagmite. Psychic energy began to fester inside the tiny Pokémon. A bizarre mist of psychic energy in the shape of balls began to surround Seismitoad. Suddenly the balls smashed into Seismitoad with heavy force. Psyshock did a considerable amount of damage to the large toad. He shook off the mental and the physical torment and turned around to find the other three Pokémon who were willing to put up a fight standing behind him. He had no time to deal with these runts. "Drilburs! Attack these fools while I deal with Victini!" he shouted to the awakened Drilburs who were watching the scene unfold in the corner (and they looked like they were rather enjoying the brawl).

Normally the Driburs would never accept an order that didn't come from sire. But seeing as though their sire was now working for the more threatening outlaw, they obeyed.

Rampage broke loose. Squad Leaf and Axew were clearly overpowering the Drilburs with their amazing attack combinations but the Drilburs began studying their tricks and did their best to overcome them. Victini was proving to be a headache for Seismitoad. He never expected to have an advantage in this fight due to type advantage, but he at least expected to get a hit in this fight. But Victini kept coming in hot with his Psychic-type moves.

Togetic blinked. He turned toward his mother and father and his little brother. "Uh, hey…Seeing as though everyone else is distracted, wouldn't it make a lot of sense to just, y'know, leave?"

The male Togekiss surveyed the area. While there seemed to be a lot of pandemonium which would probably obstruct their path it might be possible to pass through the area without detection. While they might not be able to properly thank the ones who saved them it was better than sticking around here and finding out what's gonna happen next. "Alright…We'll creep quietly by. Nobody make a sound."

The blurry vision came into focus. Colors of red, white and blue began to take shape. The hostages were beginning to creep away ever so slowly. To let them leave…that would be the last blow to his pride. He would not let that slip away. He forced his body to life itself off the ground. Excadrill found the energy to speak. "Sto…STOOOOOOOOP!"

Not only did the hostages stop, but so did the battles. All eyes were brought to Excadrill. He conjured up the energy to speak once again. "I…If it's th…the last thing I do…I'll…I'll prove I'm not worthless. I…I'll take you grass punks…you dragons, you toads, you whatever-the-rest-of-you-ares ALL DOWN! RIGHT HERE!"

"How do you propose to do that?" Victini asked, not bothering to ask who this Pokémon was, nor did he even care.

"I…I'm going to use Earthquake!"

Now he cared. And so did everybody else.

"Are you insane?" Marta shouted. "We're in a cave! It's taken way too much damage from all of our battling! I-If you use Earthquake now, this whole place will cave in on itself and we'll all by crushed!"

Excadrill gave an insane smile. "E-Exactly my plan…a grand finale to this show…you'll remember for the rest of your afterlifes!"

"Sire, don't!" The two Drilburs pleaded. The other three Drilburs were starting to regain consciousness as well. They were clearly unaware of the situation, but they knew that from the atmosphere of the room something horrible was going to happen.

Excadrill smashed one of his drill hands into the rock ground. The drill started to rotate at the fastest possible speed it could go, considering the Excadrill's current condition. The disturbance in the earth's crust began to cause the entire ground to shake vigorously. The earthquake caused rock to crumble and fall from the ceiling and walls at a dangerous rate. As he saw this horrid scene unfold, Victini had only one thing to say:

"RUN!"

The Pokémon fled as fast as they could to avoid a gruesome fate. Aside from the lone Excadrill, the entire cave was now empty and still collapsing quickly. Excadrill cackled to himself insanely. "This is only the first act! They'll be talking about my performance for years to come! My story will be told! I won't…die…unheard!"

The curtain closed on the performance.

* * *

All the Pokémon stood there panting after the intense running they had all done. The cave was now completely inaccessible due to the cave being plugged up by rocks. Seismitoad could not establish his composure in time. He met with another Psyshock blast from Victini, who seemed unphased by all the running, and fell flat on his face. After all of running and scheming, his long game of running from the law had ended.

Victini cuffed the blue toad and gave an exasperated sigh. He could finally go back to Treetop Village. Though his stay would probably be short as he was always needed for big jobs, it would be nice to rest for a while.

He shot a glare at the five Drilburs all huddled together in fear. They had no boss to rely on anymore. They were helpless and alone. Afraid of the Legendary Officer, the Drilburs feld the scene. Victini just shook his head. Classic henchmen. He turned to the other Pokémon that were at the scene. He took a deep breath. "Alright. Explain to me what just happened."

Eager and still riled up, all Pokémon began to speak at once. "I was just walking along when all of a sudden-" "a drill smacked me so hard that I lost consciousness and the last thing I remember-" "my mommy and daddy were stolen so-" "those goons tried to use us as bait for you-" "we couldn't just ignore him so we-"

"QUIET!" Victini ordered. Everyone fell silent. "OK…Clearly a lot happened just now and none of us know the full story. It'd be for the best if we all just forgot about it. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good."

Togepi waddled up to Bullet and Marta with a big grin on his face. "Thank you so much for coming to help us! You guys are really great!"

"Aw, that was nothing!" Bullet laughed, which warranted a groan from Marta. He was clearly letting the praise go to his head. Togepi and his family walked away from the scene while waving goodbye to all the other Pokémon. "You guys are awesome! We'll never forget this!" Togetic shouted as the family walked out of sight.

Victini walked up toward the other three Pokémon that were still there. "You three clearly are not from this area. Care telling me what you're all doing here?"

Marta looked surprised and hurt. "L-Legendary Officer Victini….Don't you remember us?"

Victini looked puzzled. "Um…Should I?"

Bullet and Marta both groaned. "Back at Tamira Forest about a month and a half ago. We defeated Bidoof and then you came and arrested him. Remember?" Bullet reminded him.

The memory popped back into Victini's head. "Ah, yes. Forgive me. I come across a lot of faces. Still, my question stands. What are you all doing here? This is far from Tamira Forest."

"Ah, well, we're training to become Pokémon Officers and we were administered this test-"

A huge alarm went off in Marta's head, as well as Bullet's and Axew's. "THE TEST!" They all exclaimed. In all the excitement they had completely forgotten what they came here to do. The Perfect Apple still needed to be found! If they didn't grab it, then-

"I'm the winner!"

The four turned to find a rather giddy Kirlia proudly holding up a Perfect Apple for all to behold. Squad Leaf and Axew all looked heartbroken as she skipped up toward them with the apple. "I faced all the trials Malevolent Mountain had to offer me before any of you Slowpokes did! I guess that means I'm going to be a Normal Officer! Aw yeah!"

In the midst of her victory gloat, she took a moment to look at their surroundings. There was a cave that looked like it was just sealed by rocks. Not to mention the Legendary Officer himself with a strong-looking Pokémon passed out on the floor in handcuffs. "Um…Did something happen here?"

Victini had just about enough of all of this madness. He kicked Seismitoad in an attempt to get him to stand on his own two feet. The giant blue toad groggily opened his eyes and looked at Victini. "Get up. We're leaving," Victini said in a commanding tone. Grumpily, the defeated Seismitoad got on his feet and was lead by Victini away from the scene.

Marta sighed. She was deeply upset for failing the test, but she knew what she did was the right thing. No matter how much it pained her. "Let's all just go home…"

The three losing Pokémon began to trudge toward the exit of the mystery dungeon. Still confused, Kirlia caught up to them and called, "Seriously, did something happen?"

* * *

"I'm pleased to ANNOUNCE that Kirlia has graduated to Normal Officer!"

All of the apprentices cheered after Exploud proclaimed the results of the test. All the apprentices except for Axew. This had been one of the most embarrassing screw-ups in his entire life. Would anything have gone differently if he had prepared? He wasn't as cautious as he should have been. And as his punishment he was reduced to damsel-in-distress. Bullet and Marta were cheering for Kirlia. He could tell Marta was trying to hide being upset, but Bullet didn't seem to mind either way. He didn't think he would ever think this, but those two really deserve to graduate. He hoped Exploud thought so too.

"Wow Kirlia, way to go!" Phanphy congratulated the Emotion Pokémon. "I always knew you would graduate before me!"

Bayleef started to get teary eyed over the whole situation. "I can't believe we're going our separate ways…"

Kirlia just laughed at the Pokémon. "C'mon Bayleef, we'll still see each other around. I'll still commute here from Kimora Town."

Overhearing the conversation, Bullet turned to Marta. She already knew what he was going to ask. "Kimora Town is a town not too far from here. Some of the greatest Pokémon scholars live there. It has one of the world's largest libraries," she explained.

Kirlia turned to find Slowking sleeping as usual. Frustrated, she kicked him in the shin in an attempt to wake him. Once he awoke in pain, her frustration suddenly melted as her face softened. As much as she hated waking Slowking every day, she had to admit that he had a strange way of growing in your heart. She gave the Slowking a hug. "Aw, I'm gonna miss you ya big lug!"

Slowking seemed a bit surprised (but overall sleepy). "Oh, uh…me too…Can I go back to sleep?"

"Alright, everyone is dismissed!" Exploud announced. Everyone went their separate ways. Before Squad Leaf could leave, Exploud called to them. "Hold it, you two! I've wanna have a WORD with you."

Squad Leaf was hesitant to approach him. Though they were afraid of being scolded, they approached their instructor anyway.

"I heard about what you did in Malevolent Mountain from Axew. How you helped the family of Togekiss," he said. The two were surprised. They didn't expect to hear that at all, let alone that Axew would talk highly of them. "I talked to Victini to confirm the story. He said it was all true."

Exploud suddenly looked conflicted. "While I DO admire the fact you were able to take down that gang of Drilburs and put the SAFETY of other Pokémon before your test, I can't look over the fact that you failed." Squad Leaf hung their heads. "HOWEVER, what I CAN do it give you both a retake."

Exploud had their attention once again as their heads snapped back up. "It WON'T be the same test as before. I'll have another test waiting for you. Come see me TOMORROW after training and I'll brief you on the test. That is all."

Exploud left the scene. Marta was surprisingly clam about what just happened. Normally when stuff like this happened she would be grinning ear to ear like a doofus and jumping up and down, or just stand there paralyzed in shock. It might have just been she was exhausted from the adventure she had today. Either way, she was still visibly excited.

She turned to her partner. "I don't know how we did it, but we got another shot! I really hope this one goes better!"

Bullet nodded. He had to admit being a Pokémon Officer was pretty exciting. He enjoyed the suspense, the action, the laughs…Yeah, being trapped in a world of Pokémon was starting to look less and less like a bad thing. Suddenly, his stomach growled. Rather loudly. So loud that Marta couldn't help but laugh. "Hungry?" she snickered.

"Yeah," Bullet laughed along with Marta. "I could eat a whole basket of Big Apples. Let's get some dinner."

* * *

Spinda Café was an escape from the world. It was a bustling little hobble under the ground where nothing else mattered. Here, Victini wasn't the Legendary Officer. He was just a fella looking for a drink after a long day like everybody else.

Spinda looked around the café happily. A Maractus and Timburr were having a nice chat in the corner. A Magmar who looked down on his luck was slumped on the table next to them. There was a little celebration party for a Kirlia at one table. A Treecko and Snivy walked up to the table a few moments ago. The Treecko made a big fuss about why they weren't invited. The Axew at the party looked too bummed to enjoy the party. And Special Officers were chatting in the corner. It was quite the night. Her aunt had started this chain as a place for adventures and dreams, but now with the era of adventurers slowly fading it became a place for all Pokémon with dreams. And she liked it. She was happy to be the manager of the Treetop Village branch.

Zangoose took a sip of his drink. "I still say I could've taken down Seismitoad faster than anyone."

Raichu finished off her smoothie. "Cool story, bro," she said in a snarky manner. She questioned why she agreed to get a drink with the arrogant Zangoose. She really needed friends other than Special Officers who weren't always busy. Of course, one good thing did come out of the night. They bumped into Victini and he joined them in a drink.

"What was that? This is coming from the girl who couldn't find Seimsitoad, so after a month Victini had to step in and take over," Zangoose retorted.

Raichu fumed. She hated when Zangoose called her a 'girl.' She was a fully evolved woman and preferred to be addressed as such. "Bah…Speaking of which, why does the department send us on these missions where we have a type disadvantage? An Electric-type against a Ground-type, and a Fire-type against a Water-type. What idiots…"

Zangoose finished his drink. "Quit complaining."

Victini rolled his eyes at the bickering of these two. He was at least thankful Zangoose wasn't ripping on him like he usually does. "So, what are the others doing," he spoke up as he took a sip of his drink. He wanted to steer clear of the subject of Seismitoad. That was one headache he wanted out of his head.

Zangoose tried to recollect where everyone went. "Absol, Sudowoodo and Smeargle went on separate missions. They should be back by tomorrow, or Sunday at the latest. As for Staraptor…" He began to trail off. "That's the weird thing. Nobody's seen him in a while. It isn't like that nut to just fly off like that."

Victini did not question why Staraptor left. It wasn't his business. Staraptor knew how to take care of himself. "Well…Hopefully I won't get any big missions for a while. Being away from Treetop Village for too long is upsetting."

Zangoose chuckled to himself. "Yeah. What would you do if villagers didn't kiss your behind all day?"

Spinda looked around again. The Maractus and Timburr began to leave. The Magmar was getting yelled at by a Magmar she assumed was his wife. After a big commotion at the celebration table all the Pokémon were having a good time, including the Treecko, the Snivy and the Axew (a little). Two Special Officers were yelling at each other while the other just facepalmed. There were a lot of stories to be told in that café every night.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm sooooo sorry this took as long as it did! I promise I'll try and pick up the pace! Also, I realize it might be a bit early for Squad Leaf to be graduating already, but for the story I have planned they need to rise up in the ranks a bit. It might seem this story is going a bit fast, but trust me, we've only just begun. ;) Your reviews are much appreciated! :D

(Also, er, kinda embarrassing…I realized Victini can't learn Flame Wheel, which he used in Chapter 2. I'll fix that…)


	5. Gargos Temple

Exploud didn't announce to the other apprentices Squad Leaf was getting a retest. This wasn't the first time someone got a retest the day after the first test, but if he revealed it now everyone would want their own retest. He would wait to see if they passed or not. Luckily, nobody questioned why Exploud pulled the two aside two days in a row.

Exploud made sure all of the apprentices left before speaking. "Alright," he began, "this mission is much more IMPORTANT than the last one. There is a lot more at stake this time than a scavenger hunt. It's an escort mission."

"What kind of escort mission?" Bullet asked.

"You're to escort a detective to Gargos Temple. It's a place of WORSHIP for monk Pokémon that's named after a volcano that is a safe distant away from the temple. There are NORMALLY not many sketchy or wild Pokémon, so it should be safe enough."

"If there are no sketchy Pokémon, why are we going there?" Marta wondered.

"I said NORMALLY. There was a report of grand theft up there. Normally they don't like calling for outside help, but they are at a loss, and this item is very important to them."

Bullet surveyed the area. "Where's this detective?"

Exploud called to a nearby tree. "OK, THEY WERE BRIEFED! YOU CAN COME OUT NOW!"

A Pokémon emerged from behind the tree. Squad Leaf was expecting the detective to be a wise-looking or intimidating Pokémon. Possibly a Psychic-type. Instead, they were greeted with a tiny Petilil with a tiny strapped bag wrapped around its body. It seemed visibly annoyed. "Man, can you BE any louder?"

Petilil went to Exploud's side as her annoyed expression transformed into a neutral one. There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Petilil rolled his eyes. It was something she should expect by now. Exploud spoke up. "This is Petilil. SHE is the detective you're supposed to protect."

More awkward silence. The silence was eventually pierced by a snicker coming from Bullet. "This is some kind of joke, right?" Bullet began to laugh harder after his comment. Petilil shook her head in frustration. Yes, this was something she came to expect. What with her age and height she never got the proper respect as a detective.

"QUIT LAUGHING!" Exploud scolded the Treecko. Squad Leaf covered their eardrums in pain. Petilil began to wish she had arms. "She may be YOUGNER than you two, BUT she is STILL SMARTER than you two DOLTS combined! BESIDES, she's JUST as tall as you are! SO QUIT ACTING SUPERIOR!"

Bullet could barely hear his own voice over the ringing in his ears. "I…I didn't mean to act superior. I was just expecting someone a little more…intimidating."

Exploud groaned. "You need to learn that EVERYONE has potential. If you graduate, you'll most likely be faced with the same reaction from OTHER officers. But that doesn't mean YOU should start doubting Pokémon either. We CAN'T start doubting others during this time horrible TIME." More silence followed. Exploud just shrugged it off and returned to the subject at hand. "Alright. Be prepared for a journey to Gargos Temple. It's just past Tamira Forest. DISMISSED."

* * *

Having a big brain sucks. Petilil knew this more than anyone else. Why did Gummis have to be so delicious?

Petilil grew up – or is still growing up, she should say - in a place where Gummis came in a great abundance. Most of these Gummis were Grass Gummis, so she had many every day. It was a miracle she didn't gain any weight. But she did gain a lot of IQ. Over the years however the supply began to run dry. By the time that happened, Petilil was already a genius.

She never knew her father. This wasn't uncommon for Petilil and Lilligant as they are always born female, so all breeding is interspecies. In some intolerable areas of the world, this was frowned upon. In the area she was born, Lilligant were to find a mate in order to bear a child. Love was never a factor in this.

For most of her existence she had grown up living under a broken moon. That was pretty sad, in her opinion. She had seen what the whole moon looked like in pictures, but she never saw the beauty for herself. And now because of this shattered rock she was recruited into force at _her_ age. What a world. She really missed her mother. She wished she could be with her more than once a month.

Marta decided to break the silence of the travel. "Um, sorry, but we forgot to introduce ourselves. I'm Marta, and that's Bullet."

Petilil kept on her neutral expression. "Did I ask?" she said in a snarky tone.

"Hey, if we're going to be teaming up, you could at least TRY to get along with us," Bullet retorted.

"Just remember you're working for me. I'll be doing all the talking. You just watch my back. Got it?"

Bullet just shook his head and kept walking up the path. He didn't want to have to deal with that brat. He looked around at the scenery. The path they were walking on was narrow. There were trees placed perfectly along the path facing directly from each other on both sides of the path. Somebody really went out of their way to make it look nice. No tree was an inch out of place. The path was getting less and less uphill so he could tell they were getting close to this temple.

Speaking of the temple, there was something he needed to know. "Petilil, do you know anything about Gargos Temple?"

"Not much," Petilil said dryly. "They're a bunch of monks who practice the power of aura. Their species are able to master its power quite easily. These monks seek to understand it better."

"If they can easily master it, what's not to understand?" Marta asked.

Petilil scoffed. "That's such a childish thing to say. And you're supposed to be older than me. You never take anything at face value. They may feel they aura, and they can channel the aura, but that doesn't mean they _understand_ the aura. It's like Pokémon. There may be some Pokémon living out there we maybe be completely unaware of. So many things we're capable of we may not know. There's always a new truth to pursue. Take nothing at face value."

Marta winced. It was more of a rhetorical question, really. "I mean… Things like that are just supposed to be instinct. What's there to understand about instinct? You do it because you were born to do it. That's all you need to know, right?"

Pertilil sighed. "If you prefer to live with that type of ignorance, be my guest. Ignorance is bliss, as they say." She said that last sentence in a venomous tone.

Marta sheepishly looked down at the path, ending the conversation. Bullet just groaned inwardly. It was obvious trying to have a decent conversation with that Pokémon was like trying to pull out teeth. He just wanted the test to be over with. "I don't even see why WE have to be here," the Treecko thought aloud. "Exploud said there weren't that many bad Pokémon around. What could possibly go wrong?"

Almost as if on cue, two creatures emerge from the trees. The two creatures pounced onto Bullet suddenly and held down both of us arms. Struggling proved futile. Petilil was able to identify these Pokémon as Riolu. Despite her confidence and smugness earlier, she cowered behind Marta at the sight of the assaulters.

Marta was ready to pounce on the two to protect her friend when she heard something approaching her at an alarming rate. She turned around and saw a strange, blue ball made from some sort of energy coming toward her. Thinking fast, she swatted it away with Vine Whip. Two more Riolus appeared, each holding Aura Sphere in their hands. This surprised Petilil greatly, as Riolus normally can't learn such a move.

One of the Riolus that was constricting Bullet revealed a rope and tied up the Treecko's hands tightly. Marta was surrounded and was sure that if she chose to battle it would be one she was sure to lose. A Riolu spoke up. "You will come with us quietly or be eliminated."

Marta heeded his words and stepped down, retracting her vines. Realizing he couldn't release himself from the Riolus' grasps, Bullet stopped struggling.

Petilil looked around nervously. "Great job so far," Petilil hissed at Marta with sarcasm.

* * *

The room in the back of the temple was dim. The only source of light was two torches placed on both sides of a door that was covered by blue curtains. The bricks in the middle of the room were a different color from the less, which illustrated a path leading to the door covered by curtains. Riolu acolytes were sitting on their shins on both sides of the path, bowing in respect. Two Lucario were standing in front of the curtained entrance, guarding it. Marta and Petilil were watching nervously in the corner of the room. Bullet was completely tied up from his neck to his ankles. Another rope was tied around him as a means of dragging him around with ease, which annoyed him greatly. A Riolu was in charge of holding the rope. Bullet was placed standing in the middle of the path.

After a moment of intense silence, the two Lucario stepped away from the door. They joined the Riolu along the path. They got down on one knee and bowed in respect like the rest. From the curtains emerged a Lucario with a scar on its snout. He held a staff with a glass, clear ball on its tip. Inside the ball a blue aura was emanating from it, its source being the Lucario. The Lucario raised one hand, motioning the other Lucario and Riolu to rise. They did so.

The Lucario spoke. "My name is Akihiko. Leader of the Aura Monks. Sate your name, trespasser."

"Um…Bullet, sir," the Treecko sheepishly replied. "Also, uh, I…wasn't really trespassing. You see, I-"

Akihiko slammed his staff on the floor, silencing Bullet. "Silence! Bullet, you insult us with your presence. You have stolen from us an item most important to us: the Power Globe. Such a crime cannot go unpunished. Therefore, you shall be thrown into the Gargos Volcano. So it shall be."

The Riolu holding onto Bullet's rope began to drag him out of the room. Bullet, wide-eyed, was trying to hold on by the soles of his feet. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop!" he pleaded.

"Wait a minute!"

Marta and Petilil rushed up to Akihiko frantically, objecting to the punishment. The Riolu ceased dragging Bullet. Akihiko glared at the two. "Who are you two?"

Petilil stepped forward. Se bowed to the Lucario in respect. "Akihiko, sir, my name is Petilil. This here is Mary."

"Marta," the Snivy corrected her.

"Whatever. I am a detective. I came here because of the bill you posted. I don't mean to question your methods, but throwing someone into a volcano seems a tad extreme. For starters, you haven't given Butch-"

"Bullet!" Bullet shouted at her.

"Right…You haven't given Bullet a chance to prove his innocence. Also, I am aware that Lucario are able to judge a Pokémon's morality through the way of aura. Can you not sense any pure aura coming from Bullet? "

A small stretch of silence filled the room. "It is true we can sense aura from others," Akihiko finally said. "I sense that you two, Petilil and Marta, have pure auras. Therefore, we do not prosecute you. However, for a strange reason, we cannot sense the aura from Bullet. I sense…another aura interfering with his own. I have never experienced anything like it."

Bullet was completely confused by what Akihiko said. _My aura…is being interfered with?_ _What could that possibly mean? _Suddenly, a scary thought popped up in Bullet's head. What if he was being controlled and he didn't realize it. He could have very well stolen whatever they were talking about. _Could that…be possible? No…It's impossible…_

"Also," Akihiko continued, "we have a witness to this crime. One of our acolytes. Step forward."

A Riolu stepped forward from the crowd, standing in front of Akihiko. He bowed and respect and the Lucario returned the gesture. The Riolu faced that crowd and began to tell his tale.

"It happened like this…"

_The Riolu, Kiyoshi, meditated alone in the Meditation Room in the dead of night. The acolytes, the monks, and even Akihiko were all sleeping. This was a rare sight indeed, as Akihiko normally never slept at all. Kiyoshi sleeping was just as rare a sight. He wanted to unlock his aura's full potential so that one day he would be as strong as Akihiko. Because of which, he spent all of his nights meditating._

_Suddenly, there was a disturbance. The black appendages on Kiyoshi's face straightened and his ears twitched. He sensed an aura he did not recognize and had not felt before. It took him a moment to realize exactly what room it was coming from. When he did, he leapt off the floor in surprise. There was absolutely no time to wake Akihiko. This was urgent._

_Kiyoshi rushed toward the aura as fast as he could without making noise. Once he made it to the entrance of the room he peered into the room, away from detection. A mysterious shadow was making its way through Memorial Gallery. As the name suggested, inside were the statues of previous leaders of the Aura Monks. There was more to this room that met the eye, however. Kiyoshi couldn't make out the shadow, as it was dark and the only light source from a single window that didn't catch the shadow._

"_Where is it?" The shadow mumbled to itself. It approached the statue at the end of the room: The one of Kala, the shiny Lucario that formed the Aura Monks centuries ago. The shadow inspected the plaque that was attached to it, skimming through the inscription. However, the inscription wasn't really important. What was important was that this plaque seemed to protrude out of the statue, unlike the other ones. The shadow pushed in the plaque. The room suddenly began to shake softly. The shadow turned around to find something rising from the floor. It was the artifact the shadow had been searching for. The Power Globe. It smiled wickedly. "Perfect."_

_The shadow crept over to the orb and grabbed. "Stop!" The shadow looked toward the doorway and saw an Aura Sphere being launched at it. It jumped out of the way. The light from the sphere was caught on the shadow and it was revealed who it was. It was a Treecko. Kiyoshi was sure of it. The Treecko leapt from the window. Kiyoshi tried to chase after it but it was gone. And so was the Aura Monks' greatest treasure._

Kiyoshi hung his head in shame after his story was over, as if he were the one who had committed the crime. He quickly regained his serious composure. "I know what I saw. It was that Treecko!" He pointed to Bullet. "It was you!"

"Aw come on!" Bullet objected. "I can't be the only Treecko around here! Plus he can't prove that's what happened! Are you all a pack of idiots?"

Akihiko gripped onto his staff tighter as his face began to tense up. He snarled at Bullet as the aura in his staff changed from a blue aura to an unstable looking red aura. Bullet meekly slumped downward, trying his hardest to take a step back, which proved difficult due to his constriction.

"You call us ignoramuses when you do not know the Treeckos are an endangered species? There aren't any Treeckos within a thousand miles of this place besides you! I completely trust the words of our acolytes –especially Kiyoshi's – and will punish you on our terms, no matter what a Petilil says!"

The acolyte began to drag Bullet away once again. His pleas for mercy were in vain. However, Marta decided to step up. "Stop!"

The acolyte once again ceased pulling and the expression on Akihiko's face showed his patience was beginning to wear thin from all of these interruptions. "Make it quick," he said in a harsh tone.

Marta struggled to speak up while under Akihiko's clod glare. She turned around and saw her friend constricted by rope and reminded herself it was for him. "Mr. Akihiko, sir, I'm sure you have your ways, and we have no right to question them. But please, I've known Bullet for a while now and I know this is something he would never do. He always puts others before himself. I beg of you to at least give him a chance to prove his innocence."

Akihiko arched an eyebrow. He placed his paw on his chin as he began to ponder Marta's proposal. Petilil stepped in to influence his decision. "Akihiko, sir, if I may. I propose that you give me and my subordinates twenty-four hours to investigate further into this case. If our research doesn't prove his innocence, you have the right to do whatever you please."

Akihiko looked hesitant. "...You would have to be monitored by one of us."

"Then by all means bring Kiyoshi along with us."

The entire room was silent for a minute. Akihiko's red aura transformed into a blue once again. "…Very well. You have until this time tomorrow. Use your time wisely, or the young Treecko pays for his crimes against us."

Akihiko retreated into the back room. The two Lucario monks rose off from their knees and signaled the acolytes to take their leave. Soon the room was empty aside from Bullet, Marta, Petilil and Kiyoshi. With a stern look, Kiyoshi took possession of Bullet's rope. "Well, if you wish to persist this Pokémon is not scum, you best start your investigation now. Though I doubt you'll find anything." He would rather let the Treecko burn for making him look like a fool, but it was Akihiko's wish for them to investigate.

Bullet was dragged out of the room with an annoyed look on his face. "Yeesh, have you ever met anyone with such an attitude?" Petilil asked Marta.

Marta restrained herself from answering.

* * *

Petilil wore a disgruntled expression as she gazed at the floor, wondering what to do next. Their search for clues in the Memorial Gallery ended fruitlessly. They turned that place upside-down (not literally of course, since Kiyoshi would have a conniption if they damaged any of the statues) but they didn't find anything. No footprints, no finger or paw prints, nothing. Whoever this thief was they were incredibly crafty. Not only were they out of clues, but they were out of leads.

Marta looked toward her friend. He was lying on his back with a neutral expression while Kiyoshi leaned against the temple walls holding his rope tightly. She paced around as the pressure began to push at her harder. The sun was beginning to wane down and time was ticking. Kiyoshi was praying that the day would turn to get this investigation over with.

After moments of silence, Bullet let out a huge moan. "C'mon, not dying any less over here! Are we going to investigate any time soon, ace detective?"

Petilil scowled at the Pokémon's sarcastic title of her. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize YOU were an ace detective. Why not give us a lead, oh wise one? And I should be the one who's mad! You were supposed to be my guardian and yet I'm the one protecting you!"

"Oh really? Well isn't this role reversal going swimmingly! Tell me, how's progress on that going? Because last time I checked I'm still being persecuted for grand theft!"

Petilil scoffed. "I don't need this!"

Petilil began to storm off into the woods, causing surprise to both Marta and Bullet. "H-Hey, where're you going?" Bullet hopped onto his feet and began to hop to Petilil. "Get back here-!" Bullet was interrupted as a tug on his rope caused him to fall on his face. Kiyoshi chuckled at this display while Bullet groaned.

Petilil grumbled to herself as she wandered randomly into the forest surrounding the temple. She didn't need this! She was glad to leave that dirtbag to die. This case was going nowhere anyway. True, she hated leaving a case unsolved but at least that idiot wouldn't be around to patronize her anymore. As she was fuming by herself, she stopped in her tracks when she heard rustling in the trees. Stunned, she began to back up. "M-Marta…S-Somebody…Help!"

Back at the temple, Bullet, Kiyoshi and Marta were back in their previous positions from before the big fight. Marta looked more worried than before due to Petilil's departure. Her worry only increased further when she heard her scream deep in the forest. "Petilil!" Marta rushed into the forest, with Kiyoshi in pursuit. Bullet was being painfully dragged across the grass.

Marta rushed to where she heard the scream. Once there, she found that Petilil was being squished by another Pokémon. They looked like they were both in pain. The Pokémon on top of Petilil was about to get up when a smaller Pokémon jumped onto him, causing him and Petilil to grunt. It took Marta few seconds to recognize the Pokémon. When she did, she gasped.

"Honestly Combusken, you're such a klutz!"

"Uuurgh…well you're not helping, Torchic! Get off!"

Kiyoshi and Bullet entered the scene at that moment. Marta stepped up. "You're…You're those two Pokémon from Tamira Forest! When Bidoof kidnapped one of you!"

Torchic turned her attention to Marta and gasped in surprise when he recognized her. He was about to speak when Combusken got off his feet and Torchic was hurled onto the ground. "It's you guys!" Combusken exclaimed.

Bullet got up off of his feet. He was covered in twigs and leaves and was sore. "Hey guys…Good to see ya again-" Bullet was interrupted as Combusken ran over to give the Treecko a death hug. Bullet grunted in pain. "H-Hey…I'm glad to see you too…but can you please let go? I'd rather not be constricted any more than I already am…"

Combusken let him go as he was asked. "Man, it's awesome to see you again…Um, I'm sorry. We never got your names. Everything happened so fast that day."

"Oh, right," Marta said. "I'm Marta, and this is Bullet."

Torchic got off the ground and shot a glare to Combusken, who obviously didn't see it. He rushed up to the others. "I'm Torchic, and this is my brother Combusken. How have you guys been doing?"

Marta was about to answer when Petilil let out a low moan. She picked herself and slowly dragged herself to the others. "Don't you idiots…" she hissed and she cringed. "have an investigation to get back to…?"

Bullet glared at her. He leaned forward as Kiyoshi held him up. "Oh, so you're just not going to help us anymore?" In an attempt to amuse himself, he let go of Bullet's rope and let him fall on his face once again. Kiyoshi burst out laughing as Bullet rolled onto his back. "…I hate you."

Combusken took a better look at the Pokémon and saw the predicament that plagued them. "Um…What's going on here?"

"It's a REALLY long story," Bullet explained.

Kiyoshi tugged on the Treecko's rope. Bullet stumbled over to Kiyoshi to avoid falling. "To make a long story short, this heinous Pokémon is a petty thief!"

Combusken blinked in confusion. "Huh? Bullet…A thief? Not a chance! He saved us from a criminal once. He wouldn't do anything like that!"

Kiyoshi scoffed at his words. "Believe what you will, but I witnessed the crime with my own eyes. And they don't betray me."

"What about your aura?" Bullet snapped. "Does my aura resemble that of the thief's?"

Before Kiyoshi could retort with an answer, Marta interjected."Everyone, just stop!" Everyone turned to her. "Nothing is going to get done at this rate! Ever heard of forgive and forget? I know there's a lot of pressure and tension right now but this isn't the time to turn on each other!"

The words began to seep into the brains of the investigation team. "…Tch," Petilil spat. "Fine. You're right. We need to find the Power Globe."

Torchic was alerted. "Hey, you guys lost something too?"

"Yeah. What'd you guys lose?" Marta asked.

"We lost our dad's Fiery Globe!" Combusken said, obviously in panic. It looked as though he only just remembered he was looking for it.

Petilil's interest was piqued when she heard the name of the item. "A Fiery Globe, you say?"

Torchic nodded. "Our dad is a collector and it took him years to find this globe. We just wanted to use it for a moment to visit Shattered Seas, because we heard about there was a Legendary Pokémon called Manaphy there. We camped out in the woods outside the sea and rested. When we woke up, the globe was gone!" Torchic looked like he was on the verge of tears. "If we don't get it back, our dad will be furious!"

Marta tried her best to stop the Torchic from crying. "Don't worry…Once we find our item, we'll help you look for yours."

"Hold on a moment," Petilil said. All eyes were on her as her pain stricken look was replaced with a pondering one (though her position was the same). "I think there might be a correlation between these incidents."

Kiyoshi shook his head. "True, they are both Globes, but the thought that it is the same thief is highly unlikely. It is a rare item. I'm sure plenty of other Pokémon would want their hands on it."

"True, but we shouldn't deny the possibility," Petilil mused. Everyone grew silent as Petilil tried to use this correlation to find a lead. "So, the theft of the Power Globe happened last night. Combusken and Torchic, was it? When did you lose the Fiery Orb?"

"About two nights ago," Combusken explained.

After another moment or so of silence, and idea popped into her head. She turned to Marta. "Marta, can you come back to Treetop Village with me? There's something I need to research."

Marta nodded. "Sure thing. I'm here to protect you after all."

Petilil adjusted the bag around her waist to make sure it was securely in place. "We'll be right back!" Petilil rushed off back to the trail back to Tamira Forest, with Marta in pursuit. Petilil might hate having a big brain and having so much responsibility, but there was nothing like the thrill of solving a case. It was the only perk to the job.

* * *

Combusken and Torchic were incredibly fascinated by the temple. They ran up and down the main halls in excitement, which greatly bothered Kiyoshi and some other acolytes. On the rare occasions the brothers settled down it was impossible to strike conversation with them, which irritated Bullet. It was much harder considered he was being dragged around by Kiyoshi like a Lillipup on a leash all the time.

However, Kiyoshi was able to get a word in. "Just how did you two wind up coming here anyway?" he asked.

Combusken stopped looking around and faced the Riolu. Torchic, who was sitting atop his brother's head, answered. "We just started looking in Tamira Forest, since that's the only place we know how to get to besides the Shattered Seas. When we couldn't find anything there, it led us here."

At that moment, Petilil and Marta rushed into the temple. By the look on their faces they had big news to share. "Everyone, gather around!" Petilil demanded. The Pokémon did as they were told.

Petilil reached into her bag and pulled out several case files. The Pokémon began to skim through them. There was a report of a Swellow whose Sky Globe was stolen before it was going to sell it to an esteemed collector. There was another report of a Delibird that lost an Icy Globe that he was planning on giving to charity. Reports like this were sprawled across the floor. "What does this mean?" Bullet finally asked.

"Obviously," Petilil said matter-of-factly, "we have a thief going around stealing globes."

Kiyoshi shook his head. "Still could be a coincidence."

"I thought that too." Petilil reached into her bag once against and brought out a Wonder Map. She unfolded it and spread it across the floor. Several places were marked on the map. "Look here: there's a pattern. The Delibird's Icy Globe was stolen all the way down here. Next, the Swellow's globe was stolen above. And so on in that fashion until we reach the Shattered Seas, then up here to Gargos Temple."

"So the thief is going north, collecting the globes," Marta said.

Petilil nodded. "Precisely."

"So if the thief is going north, what would they steal next?" Bullet asked.

Petilil took out a marker and drew a circle around an area not that far from Gargos Temple. Kiyoshi was the first to recognize the area. "Gargos Volcano!" he said aloud.

"That's right," Petilil confirmed. "If I remember the stories correctly there should be a Defend Globe somewhere deep within the volcano. That's where we're going."

Petilil began to gather up her belongings with help from Marta. Combusken and Torchic looked ecstatic to be going on an adventure. Bullet however seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea, and nor did Kiyoshi.

"Hold on!" Bullet objected. "I don't wanna go into a volcano! That's what I've been trying to avoid all day."

Petilil shot a glare at the Treecko. "Would you rather climb into it or be thrown into it? You're out of options."

Bullet sighed. He begrudgingly began to hop with the others out of the temple when a tug on his rope made him stop. "Stop," Kiyoshi demanded. "That volcano is sacred grounds. Akihiko has warned us never to go in there, or we would anger Volcarona!"

Petilil stopped in her tracks. She was hoping he wouldn't know about that thing, let along reveal it. She sighed. "If we're extra careful Volcarona won't notice our presence. We can't let this opportunity pass us by. We might be able to catch the thief."

"Who's Volcarona?" Marta asked, much to Petilil's grief.

"Volcarona is a Fire- and Bug-type Pokémon that normally resides in volcanoes," Petilil explained.

Marta was taken aback. "Fire- AND Bug-type?" She shuttered at the thought. But it did make sense why a Bug-type specific item would be in a volcano. "I-If we went up against something like that, we wouldn't stand a chance."

"Exactly why we should avoid it at all costs," Petilil responded. "If we sneak past to the Defend Globe we should be able to get by safely. Besides, Volcarona normally breed at this time of year, so if we're lucky it should be looking after its eggs. We'll just avoid the nest."

Marta gulped. "If you say so…"

Combusken raised his claws in the air with zest. "Alright! Let's go snatch that thief!"

Combusken and Torchic began to eagerly march toward the exit of the temple. Suddenly they felt something being wrapped around their bodies, pulling them back. They halted and turned to find Marta's Vine Whip restricting them.

She shook her head. "You two can't come."

"What?" The two shouted in disproval.

Petilil chuckled. "From what I hear, you two got beat down by a Bidoof. I doubt you'll be able to make it in a volcano."

Combusken stomped in frustration. "We were caught off guard! C'mon, our item was stolen too! We should confront the thief too!"

"No," Bullet said in a stern voice. "You guys are staying here. We're leaving. Simple as that."

The four began to leave the temple as Combusken and Torchic's objections fell on deaf ears. Once the four exited Kiyoshi suddenly stopped in his tracks. He peered back into the temple. "Actually, don't stay here. You should be out of our temple by the time we get back."

Combusken and Torchic both pouted and turned to each other. Soon a mischievous grin replaced the pouting.

* * *

Sweat raced down Bullet's neck and throughout his body. The fact that they were in a steaming hot volcano was only a small contribution in this. He was dangling above the boiling volcano as the other three were climbing down into the volcano. Kiyoshi was holding him by the rope with only one hand as he climbed down. Petilil was being carried down by Marta's Vine Whip and seemed more confident that she wouldn't be dropped by her, but of course was still nervous.

Bullet began to ease up when he saw that there was a large ledge coming below him that seemed to form a path that spiraled down lower into the volcano. When Kiyoshi noticed the ledge he decided to toy with the Treecko again. He intentionally let of the rope and Bullet began to plummet to the ledge. He grunted as his back collided with the burning ledge. Marta and Petilil were horrified. Thankfully Bullet wasn't so far away from the ledge that it would cause fatal or serious injuries, but it still had to hurt. Kiyoshi laughed as he hopped down to the ledge next to Bullet.

Bullet moaned. "What…is…your…problem?"

Kiyoshi yanked on Bullet's rope, forcing him to stand up. "You're my problem!" he shouted. "I know you're the crook, and you're going to be thrown into that lava! I have to be right, or I'll look like a fool. And if I look a fool in front of the monks I'll never-" Kiyoshi stopped himself. Marta and Petilil reached the ledge and shot a cold tare at Kiyoshi. He scoffed. "Never mind. Let's just go."

A long silence fell upon the group as they began to descend down deeper into the volcano. For the most part the path down was a smooth ride, but sometimes it required some climbing of stealth and the path became more tattered. "We're getting closer," Petilil suddenly said. "The Defend Globe should be near the bottom of the volcano." Petilil wishes she had hands to wipe sweat off of her forehead. She got more nervous as they neared the end of the volcano. She was gung ho about the whole idea but now she just wished she wouldn't get burned to bits. Still, she knew it was something she had to do.

As Marta walked along she worried for Bullet's safety. She didn't put it against Kiyoshi to try and throw him in the volcano early. If only Kiyoshi would let her hold the rope. What a stubborn Pokémon.

Suddenly, Marta felt pieces of rock fall on her head. She dusted them off and looked up to try and find the source of it. There seemed to be nothing up there. She shrugged and continued walking. What she didn't know was that Combusken and Torchic were pressed up against the wall as they tried not to fall on a small ledge they could barely stand on.

"Be more careful!" Torchic hissed. "We're gonna get caught!"

"We're not gonna get caught," Combusken retorted. "When we catch the thief they'll realize they should've brought us along."

The two brothers began to inch on the ledge as the claws of their feet hugged the edge, following the others carefully. A few moments later Combusken suddenly stopped feeling the wall with his arm. He peered over and saw a large opening within the volcano wall. Combusken entered it, followed by Torchic. They found a big, empty cave within the opening, where the only thing that stood out was a dozen eggs in the corner.

Torchic's eyes gleamed as he rushed over to the eggs. Combusken tried to stop him but he was already too far. He sighed. Torchic began to inspect the eggs and gasped. "Hey big bro, these eggs are about to hatch!"

Combusken's curiosity was piqued. "Seriously?" Combusken rushed to his brother's side and saw the eggs begin to shake. They leaned in with grins on their faces as they wondered what type of Pokémon would come out of the egg. The eggs cracked up and some hairy wormlike Pokémon with red horns began to wiggle out from the eggshells. The two brothers stepped back in disgust of the bugs.

Suddenly, it dawned on Torchic. "Um…Combusken? Didn't Petilil say that the Volcarona would be guarding its eggs?"

Combusken realized their mistake as well. "Oh…Right…."

Their fears were realized when they heard a loud buzzing sound coming from the shadows of the cave. The two brothers' feathers stood up on the backs of their necks as they slowly turned around. When they saw the creature buzz out of the shadows they screamed.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the cave, the four were nearing a pool of lava. They began to tread carefully in fear of it. When they reach the lava pool they noticed a shrine. It was a statue of a Scolipede with a pink orb inside of its mouth. Petilil smirked. "The Defend Globe! It's still there!"

Marta looked around. "But…nobody else is here."

Suddenly, Kiyoshi's appendages straightened and his ears perked. That familiar aura. He clenched his teeth in frustration at the memory of him being bested. He began to form an Aura Sphere, which confused the rest of the group. He hurled the Aura Sphere full force at the statue. The statue crumbled at the explosion and a Pokémon leapt out of the way from behind the statue. It was a Treecko.

The team was wide eyed. "YOU!" Bullet steamed. "You're the thief!"

The thief got up with a pained look on its face. Marta stepped forward with a glare. "Where did you hide the other globes? Tell us now!"

Suddenly, the volcano started to rumble and all the Pokémon present tried to hold their balance (Bullet unsuccessfully). Everyone figured out the source of the tremor was coming from something rising out of the lava. A huge projectile shot out of the lava. It blew off all the lava in a gust of wind, which luckily didn't hit any of the team. Everyone saw that the Pokémon was some kind of large bug.

Petilil gaped. "I-It's Volcarona!"

"You fools!" The thief shouted. From the sound of its voice it was clear that she was a female. "You've destroyed the shrine and enraged Volcarona!"

The Volcarona let out a shriek as it began to breathe heavily as a heavy orange mist began to spread. Most of the Pokémon managed to avoid Heat Wave except for Bullet, who did not hop away in time. He groaned as the heat enveloped him. The rope constricted burned off after the contact of the move, freeing him. However, he was still badly injured from the move and sustained a bad burn from it.

Everyone was scattered around. Marta rushed over to the side of Bullet. She brought out a Cheri Berry from her bag. Bullet was about to take it when a powdery wind was projected at them as the Volcarona flapped its wings rapidly. Marta and Bullet lunged out of the way. Marta dropped the Cheri Berry and it splattered on the floor. Kiyoshi constantly hurled Aura Spheres at the Volcarona but all attempts failed.

In the midst of the chaos the thief Treecko tried to sneak her way to the Defend Globe. Once she grabbed it, she suddenly felt something bite her neck. Before she knew it she was captured by the Volcarona, who was prepared to throw the Treecko into the lava. While this was happening Bullet picked up some of the Cheri Berry and forced it down his throat. It tasted awful and was badly burnt. However, he still felt the healing effects as the burn began to fade.

"H-Help!" The thief yelped. At that moment the Volcarona let the Treecko go. She screamed as she began to plummet into the lava pool. She closed her eyes and braced for her demise when she suddenly stopped. She opened her eyes and saw that Marta has caught her with Vine Whip. Marta struggled to hold her up. She hurled her onto the rock surface. The thief tumbled onto the wall and grunted as she collided with it. Marta walked up to her. "I can't just let you die," she said sternly. "Besides, we still need you to tell us where the globes are."

The Volcarona let out another shriek. It swooped down to pounce on Marta and the thief. However it was intercepted by Bullet who smashed his tail into the bug's face. As the Volcarona was momentarily disoriented, Kiyoshi took this opportunity to hurl an Aura Sphere at it. It landed a critical hit. The Volcarona plummeted into the lava pool.

Petilil rushed up to the other Pokemon. "We defiantly haven't seen that last of that thing! We need to leave, now!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Bullet said, panting as he was clearly weak from the damage he took.

As they were about to leave, Marta took out her vines again and prepared to wrap them around the thief when suddenly the thief began to glow. The thief began to shapeshift while being enveloped in the glow. Once the glow faded the thief appeared to be an entirely different Pokémon.

"Aha!" Petilil said suddenly. "I knew there was no way there could be another Treecko around here! The thief was actually a Zorua!"

The Zorua winced as she got up on her feet. "Th-That's right…" she groaned in a lot of pain.

Despite being caught off guard for a moment and being filled with new questions, Marta knew this was no place for them. She extended her vines again to try and grab Zorua once more when she heard someone screaming and running towards them. Everyone turned around to find Combusken and Torchic running towards them in fear.

"Combusken? Torchic?" Bullet exclaimed. "What're you guys doing here? We told you to stay back at the temple!"

"I-It's coming!" Torchic screamed as she continued to run toward them.

On cue, a Volcarona swopped down from above and threw a Silver Wind at the group without warning. It was going directly toward Petilil. Stunned, Petilil stood in place. Realizing that Petilil wouldn't dodge the attack, Bullet thought fast. "Watch out!" He lunged at the Pokémon and pushed it out of the way as Bullet took in the hit. With that, he fainted. Petilil was completely at awe at the chivalrous act.

"Bullet!" everyone but Kiyoshi and the thief yelled. Suddenly a tremor similar from before arose. The Volcarona from before reemerged from the pool of lava. The two Volcaronas shrieked simultaneously as everyone covered their ears from the deafening tone. "There's TWO?" Marta cried.

"How else do you think they breed?" Petilil cried in return, really wishing she had hands once again as the shriek shattered her eardrums.

The two Volcaronas began to try and attack the group. At this moment true pandemonium arose as everyone tried to avoid the Volcaronas, scattering all over the place. Marta leapt away from a Heat Wave and grabbed Bullet. She popped a Reviver Seed in his mouth in a corner. He began to slowly awaken. When the current situation clicked back into his head he got back on his feet.

After avoiding a Silver Wind, Kiyoshi noticed that Zorua once again tried to sneak for the Defend Globe. However, he noticed that she wasn't going for the Defend Globe at all. Instead she pulled out a bag that was hiding behind the rubble. Realizing that the Power Globe must be stored away there, he conjured up an Aura Sphere and launched it at Zorua. It hit her, causing her to drop the bag as its contents spilled. Globes of many colors rolled all over the place.

Suddenly, the Volcaronas stopped as they noticed a particular globe. "THE FIERY GLOBE!" they both said in surprise.

Marta was wide-eyed. "You two can talk?"

"OF COURSE WE CAN TALK!" One of the Volcaronas retorted. "WE'RE POKEMON JUST LIKE YOU, ARE WE NOT?"

"Then what was with all the shrieking?" Bullet asked groggily.

"WE WERE FRUSTRATED!" The other Volcarona said. "BUT THAT IS BEYOND THE POINT. THAT ZORUA HAS OUR FIERY GLOBE!"

"_Your_ Fiery Globe?" Combusken shouted. "That's our father's Fiery Orb! That thief stole it!"

"THAT FIERY GLOBE WAS STOLEN FROM US MONTHS AGO." The Volcarona gently fluttered down to the Fiery Globe, while the other followed. "LOOK AT THE SYMBOL ON THIS GLOBE. THE DEFEND GLOBE SHARES THE SAME SYMBOL."

All the Pokémon gathered around to check the symbol. It was of green wings in a shape similar to that of that Volcaronas'. "Oh…That's what that was," Torchic said.

"How did your father acquire the orb?" Petilil asked the brothers suspiciously.

Combusken looked offended by Petilil's tone. "Our father isn't a thief! He got it from a Houndoom! Clearly he was the shifty one!"

"Listen," Kiyoshi said, ignoring Combusken, "if we allow you to take back the Fiery Globe will you allow us to leave peacefully?"

Zorua, through her pain stricken face, looked displeased with the idea. "N-No! I won't let you take-" Zorua was interrupted by an Energy Ball that collided with her person. She fainted on impact.

Bullet shook his head. "Her opinion doesn't really matter."

"…I SUPPOSE THAT SOUNDS FAIR. AS LONG AS YOU AGREE NOT TO HARM OUR YOUNG. ALSO, CAN YOU PLEASE TELL THOSE LUCARIO TO STOP THROWING POKEMON IN OUR VOLCANO?" Volcarona said.

"Hold on!" Combusken objected. "If we don't bring the Fiery Orb back our father will-" An irritated buzzing noise came from the Volcaronas in response to the objection, which caused Combusken to gulp. "I-I mean…That seems fair. It is _yours_ after all…Eh heh…"

Without another word spoken, the Volcaronas grabbed their globes with their mouths. They both soared off gracefully together to their young in the cave of the volcano. Kiyoshi gathered up all the stolen globes and stuffed them back in the bag, while Marta scooped up Zorua with Vine Whip. Everyone exchanged looks.

"Let's get going," Petilil simply said. They still all had many questions, but these were things that should be addressed in a safer place. With that, they proceeded to leave the volcano.

* * *

The acolytes gathered once again after the announcement of the capture of the thief. Zorua's legs were tied together with her mouth gagged with rope. Squad Leaf, Petilil and the two brothers stood behind the thief while Kiyoshi was in front of the thief on one knee and one hand on the ground as he bowed in respect and in shame to Akihiko. A monk next to Akihiko securely held the returned Power Globe.

After a few moments of silence, Akihiko finally spoke. "Firstly, I must apology to you, Bullet. We hope you'll forgive us for the barbaric way we treated."

"It's fine…really," Bullet said, trying to sound sincere. Though honestly he was incredibly irritated about the whole situation, but it was best not to irritate Akihiko. He scared him, honestly.

Akihiko turned his attention to Kiyoshi. The aura in his sphere turned to the bright red color as earlier. "Kiyoshi…The aura of this true thief does not resemble Bullet's at all. You claim to have felt the thief's aura and yet you could not tell the two apart. Explain yourself."

Kiyoshi hung his head in shame. "Forgive me. In my rage of being defeated, I also felt despair that you would frown upon me for letting our most prized treasure get away. When I found the Treecko I convinced – even fooled – myself into believing Bullet was the thief. I want to see him captured to redeem myself in the Aura Monks' eyes."

Akihiko responded with a cold glare. "I did not expect such foolishness from you. I am deeply disappointed in you."

Kiyoshi's eyes snapped open in horror. Akihiko being disappointed in him…Something he wished would never happen. His worst fear has been realized. "You five," Akihiko said to the others, "come meet me outside in just a few moments." With that, Akihiko signaled the acolytes to leave the premises. Kiyoshi took a few moments to get up and leave. He looked so crush even Bullet couldn't help but feel sorry for him. It was then Akihiko did something that amazed the others. He slammed his staff to the ground and a blue aura began to glow around Zorua. The Zorua rose into the air, which she was clearly surprised and terrified about. Zorua began to float into the back room, and Akihiko followed with the other monks. Petilil had no idea any Lucario could do such a thing.

The five did as they were told and waited outside. Of course, Combusken and Torchic has no business with this investigation so they decided they should leave for home.

"Sorry about losing your dad's Fiery Orb," Marta said in a sincere tone. "We can vouch for you, if you want."

Torchic shook his head. "That's OK...We'll just face the music. Even if dad does understand he'll still be pretty steamed about us going into a volcano." Torchic let out a smile. "But it was awesome seeing you guys again!"

"Likewise!" Bullet replied. "Let's hope we see each other again."

With that, Torchic and Combusken went down the path back to Tamira Forest. Afterwards, Akihiko came out with a comatose Zorua, along with two monks. There was some sort of gray aura around the Zorua that kept it sleeping. Again, this amazed Petilil. Akihiko seemed to be looking for the other two Pokémon for a moment but ceased, as they were not important.

Akihiko spoke. "We have come to the agreement that by the request of the Volcarona we will no longer make sacrifices to Gargos Volcano. So, we shall leave the fate of Zoura to be put in your hands."

Petilil stepped forward and bowed. "Very well," she responded. It was then that a question that had been plaguing her mind for a while came forth. "Akihiko, if you don't mind me asking, why did you call on us for help?"

Akihiko arched an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it just seems you could've done this on your own. You're an intelligent group of Lucario and Riolu that have extraordinary powers I've seen from your species before. It seems you could've found the thief on your own, yet you claim you were all 'at a loss.'"

Akihiko smirked at the Petilil. "You're very wise. Indeed our understanding of the aura has helped us reach potential thought impossible, and we have learned much from our ancestors. But this was more of a test for the Pokémon of Treetop Village."

"A test for Treetop Village?" Marta parroted.

"Yes. As you know, the moon looming over our heads have twisted many Pokémon. The gravity of this did not hit us until our precious treasure was stolen. We admittedly began to become paranoid that perhaps our neighbors might be twisted as well. So we sent out a distress call to the nearby village – your village – to see how trustworthy they were. You've proved to us that we can trust you."

"Couldn't you have just visited our village?" Bullet asked.

"Yes, but with it being such a long trip we thought this would be easier. Besides, two birds in one stone," Akihiko said, letting out a laugh of amusement. Bullet was speechless. There was no proper way to respond to that.

With a wave of his hand, Akihiko dismissed the gray aura emanating around the Zoura. Despite this she was still resting peacefully. "We thank you again," Akihiko said. He turned to leave but stopped himself. "Ah yes, how rude of me. I nearly forgot the bounty."

Akihiko signaled one of the monks that accompanied him to step forward. He was holding a large bag stuffed with something. He hurled it in front of the three Pokémon and it was revealed it contained a large heap of Poké. Bullet and Marta's jaws practically fell off after seeing all that money. "We get all of this?" Marta shouted.

"Of course. We've accumulated all of this in our travels through mystery dungeons. Currency means nothing to us. By all means take it." Akihiko bowed. "With that, farewell."

Akihiko and the monks retreated into the temple. When he left, Bullet and Marta jumped up and down. "We're rich! We're rich!"

Petilil laughed heartily at the two excited Pokémon, who stopped cheering after hearing the laugh. "How cute," she taunted. "You think you're actually getting a share of this?" The small Pokémon used all of her strength to pull the sack of Poké behind her. "This is all mine."

Bullet and Marta's hearts nearly sank as they looked at her astonished. "Wh-What? That's not fair!" Marta protested. "We helped with this bounty too! We should get a cut!"

Petilil continued to laugh. "I worked it all out with Exploud. _Your _reward was that you would graduate to Pokémon Officers. _My _reward was the reward money for finding the Power Globe. Seems fair doesn't it?"

"Not really…" Bullet mumbled. "Seems downright unfair."

Petilil grabbed the sack once again. "Well, my work here is done! It's been an interesting ride, I'll say that much. You go ahead and bring Zorua back to Magnezone Prison as proof of your passing. See ya!" With a mischievous wink, Petilil began to drag the sack of Poké (very sluggishly due to its massive weight) into an opposite direction of Treetop Village. Bullet and Marta just stood there incredibly disappoint. It seemed to be a repeat of the last Graduation Test, only this time they actually did graduate.

Marta tried to put things into perspective. "Well…We didn't get any riches, but at least we're going to be Pokémon Officers now!" Marta gave a huge grin. That meant more to her than any money. "Come on. Let's get back to Exploud."

Very gently, Marta wrapped her vines around Zorua so as to not wake her up. She held the Pokémon over her head and began walking back down to Treetop Village with Bullet following. To be honest, he would've loved that money after everything he went through, but oh well…At least Marta got what she wanted.

* * *

It was certainly embarrassing. She was simply being constricted under the arm of a normal Exploud. How did she manage to get caught so easily? Father would be disappointed…

Exploud looked rather impressed, which was a rare thing. He had received the report from Petilil and was surprised to hear what the two apprentices have survived. Certainly one of them getting captured didn't exactly help their case, but they still faced the problem and went over the boundaries. His decision was an obvious one. "Congratulations, you failed!"

Bullet and Marta took a step back in surprise. They certainly didn't expect that at all. "WHAT?" they shouted simultaneously.

Zorua smirked. They were suffering…Served them right. "You HEARD me!" Exploud thundered. "You FAILED! You got lucky, but there were still a lot of sloppy mistakes! You BARELY got out of that volcano! And you endangered the lives of two villagers! Like HELL I'd let you pass with results like that!"

Bullet and Marta tried to protest, but were met with a stern look that quickly shut them up. They hung their heads in sorrow, and Zorua merely snickered. She was quickly silenced by a tightening of his hold on her.

"Oh, honestly now. You're being ridiculous."

The Pokémon quickly turned to the source of the voice and saw that it was none other than Absol. While Bullet and Marta were ecstatic to see her, Exploud looked less than amused. "Hey, who are YOU to tell me-"

Absol began to inch closer to the Pokémon with a hardcore look on her face that meant she meant serious business. This was NEVER a good sign, and was usually someone's cue to run. Exploud gulped, wondering if he should get out of here while he still could. But how would that make him look to his apprentices?

"Now let's be rational here," Absol said sternly. "I didn't come all the way here after a long mission just to learn that Squad Leaf failed to pass their exam. And over a few simple mistakes. Like you didn't make some mistakes in your past."

Absol began inching close to Exploud, and Exploud began to slowly back up as Absol persisted on moving forward. She continued. "What all those mistakes you made as a Loudred? That time you rushed into a dungeon blindly unprepared. Or when YOU failed to pass YOUR Graduation Exam to become and explorer!"

Exploud tried to stick up for himself. "This has nothing to do with THOSE days! They need to be flawle-"

"Well then, Mr. Perfectionist," Absol said, her voice getting lower and more venomous. "I wonder what Chief Magnezone would have to say about this. The one who is always telling you to get more recruits. I'm sure he wouldn't be very pleased to hear that two apprentices failed an exam twice. Some might blame their failures on the teacher. I know I would…"

Exploud at this point was scared beyond compare. He eventually slipped onto his backside while still maintaining a firm grip on Zorua, who was also admittedly horrified. He refused to be defeated…Yet that look in her eyes…It was like she would rip him to shreds in seconds. In the end, the job got done, and how it happened didn't matter, as long as they were responsible.

He sighed. "OK, OK. THEY PASS!"

Suddenly all hostility vanished from her features as she sat down with a warm and friendly expression on her face. "I knew they would! They're so tough they can take on anyone!"

Exploud got up on his feet, feeling ashamed after being defeated. Bullet and Marta, meanwhile, we celebrating and thanking Absol. Though for some reason wasn't as thankful as Bullet.

The day had finally come. The day they were training for. Bullet felt it was a little anticlimactic as the other apprentices weren't there to celebrate with them. He'd love to see the looks on their faces. But Marta didn't care either way. This was the beginning of her dream.

Exploud sighed. "Alright, I'll go fill OUT the paperwork and send it to Magnezone. Meanwhile, I'm going to bring this SCUM to her new cell."

Exploud began to walk away with the thief when suddenly he was stopped by an outburst from Squad Leaf. "Wait!"

Exploud stopped in his tracks, annoyed. Hadn't they already gotten what they wanted? He turned around with a piercing leer. "WHAT?"

Marta didn't back down (though she wanted to). "Zorua…Why did you want all of those globes?"

Zorua rolled her eyes. Why did she even care? "Globes normally don't sell well in most markets…But I knew a collector who would pay top dollar for a full collection of globes." She left out what she needed all of that Poké for.

Bullet stepped up as well. "Another thing…Why a Treecko?"

Zorua was silent for a few moments. Eventually a very serious look came across her face, which puzzled the Treecko. "I was hoping to get rid of you…"

Bullet's eyes widened in surprise. The others also looked at the Zorua with a confused look. "Get of…me? Why? I don't even know you…"

Zorua gave a small chuckle. "You think you being here is just by chance…But Father will reach his purpose before yours…Continue to live your life in ignorance. It'll do us good."

There was a silence that lingered after what Zorua said. Exploud rolled his eyes, not even paying attention to the words of the thief. "If you're done talking nonsense, we're GOING!" Exploud gripped onto Zorua tighter than before in annoyance. Zorua could barely breathe now. With that, Exploud walked away and the two were gone.

Absol turned to Squad Leaf, who looked like they were trying to make sense of Zorua's words. They probably didn't even notice the look of suspicion she gave Bullet. Her horn began to twitch more lately.

* * *

Bullet couldn't move any of his being. His vision was blurred as he was only half-conscious, yet he was able to make out the area around him. This was a dream, he was sure of it. It seemed like he was in a meadow, but something was off about it. It seemed…incomplete. Shattered, even. There were holes of darkness scattered all around the meadow. It was almost as if this dream were a pleasant one, but also a nightmare. It was as if…his being was conflicted as to which it should be.

There was an angelic voice singing in the distant. It sounded rather faint. It began to fade in and out as if it were trying to get closer but failing. He heard voices…His own and the other voice he always heard in his dream. There was someone else…a woman.

"_Eeek! Wh-What is that monster outside?"_

"_Mom, it's a Pokémon! And he's my friend! He's not a monster!"_

"_Y-You are not bringing that…__**thing**__ into our house!"_

"_But mom-"_

"_End of discussion!"_

…

"_How did it go?"_

"_She…didn't take too fondly of you. I'm sorry."_

"_Ah…I see. I should've known."_

"_Don't be like that. I don't care what anyone else thinks of you. You're still my friend."_

"…_Friend?"_

"_**Be weary of deception."**_

This a voice Bullet did not recognize. Someone was trying to speak out to him. The song began to become more and more faint. Bullet's vision began to worsen. Darkness spread more and began to envelop the meadow.

"_Say….You'd do anything for me right?"_

"_Of course! We're best friends!"_

"_Good…I'm glad. You're so important to me…I'm glad I'm important to you to."_

"_Yup! We'll be pals for life. No matter what happens."_

"_**You were so close…How could he do that?"**_

At this point the darkness had completely taken over and the angelic song disappeared. He felt as though were sinking. Into what, he did not know. Perhaps more darkness. He began to panic, but could not move.

"_**Don't worry. We'll speak again soon enough."**_

Bullet's eyes snapped open and he sat up. He was breathing heavily as if he had just been underwater for two hours. He was sweating furiously. He looked around at the familiar surroundings of Marta's home. He took a deep breath. It _was _just a dream…Or a nightmare.

There was something off about the cave. It was obvious: Marta was missing. Bullet got onto his feet which instantly began to wobble. He regained is balance and took yet another deep breath. He tried to shake off his fear by splashing some lake water in his face. He carefully hopped on the stepping stones and the broken moonlight shun down upon him. He looked around and saw Marta sitting in front of Floatzel Lake looking deep in contemplation.

Bullet strolled over to her. She was aware of his presence, it was obvious, yet none of them spoke. It was strange. Marta just sat there and Bullet just stood there. So much was going on in their minds they didn't know how to bring it up. No one attempted to break the ice for quite some time.

Bullet stared up toward the lingering fragments of the moon. Every now and again the same questions would pop up in his head: When did this happen? Why did it happen? Why did people just sit down and accept it? It was rare he ever heard anyone bring it up in a conversation. It was almost as if it had become a normal part of their everyday life. He always wanted to bring this up to Marta, but he would always be too distracted to say anything. This was one of those times.

Bullet finally decided to speak up and probe Marta's mind. "We're pretty lucky Absol came to our rescue, right?"

"Yeah, lucky me…" Marta said in a depressing tone. "Just…Don't you think we could've helped ourselves?"

Bullet sat down next to Marta. "Exploud would've failed us without her help."

Marta winced in such a way that looked like someone had just punched her in the stomach after being punched in the stomach a few moments ago. "I know…"

The two remained quiet once again. Eventually, Bullet felt as though he had to get something off his mind. "Today was so weird…What Akihiko and Zorua said is still getting to me."

"How so?" Marta asked. It sounded as though she wasn't very interested.

Despite this, Bullet spoke anyway. "My aura wasn't readable for some reason…The reason that someone's was interfering with mine. And Zorua said that I had a purpose…What does that all even mean? Who is interfering with me? Did somebody try and stop me from achieving this purpose? I've been thinking a lot about this."

Marta gave a simple 'mmhmm' and continued to gaze downward. Bullet tilted his head in confusion. "Marta…are you OK? You seem a little off," Bullet said.

There was yet another silence that roamed the air. Bullet wondered if she had even heard his question. It wouldn't surprise him based on how spacey she was. He spoke once more. "Marta…What's wrong? You're a Normal Officer. You should be happy now-"

Marta stood up with a threatening expression. "I didn't want it to happen this way!" she shouted. Bullet was at a loss for words. They just stood there for quite some time before she talked again. "I…I was supposed to prove that…" Marta shook her head. "No…Absol is just looking out for my best interest right?"

Bullet had no idea what Marta was talking about. Suddenly, Marta went from a huge mood swing. She was clearly still troubled, but getting off that much out of her chest helped her feel a little better. "You're right. I am happy. Now I can really help others," she said. "Bullet…I'm sorry. Here I am complaining when you've got a serious dilemma on your hands."

Bullet looked uncomfortable. "Oh, no…It's fine."

Marta looked like she was contemplating. "So, Zorua obviously knows something about you. That's a start. Maybe now that we're Normal Officers they'll allow us to speak with her."

"What makes you think she'll want to talk to us? We locked her up," Bullet reminded her.

"True…But it's at least worth a try if she knows anything about your past." Marta looked back toward the cave behind the waterfall. He depressed looked returned to her, though it was much more of a tired look. "Listen…I'm tired after today. Let's worry about this tomorrow."

Bullet merely nodded as the two went back into their retreat together. Bullet pondered what had gotten into Marta that whole night. He didn't sleep a wink in fear he would have the dream he did before.

Marta thought about earlier that day…When Petilil said that the Lucario and Riolu went to extraordinary lengths to pass their limits. The proof was in the pudding, as she saw that day. Maybe she could push her own limits…Maybe she could protect herself.

* * *

Petilil walked alone in the dead of night in the forest as she heard the sound of Noctowls in the background. She looked around to see if anyone was around to see her. When she was sure the coast was clear, she threw the bag of Poké she had earned from her mission into a bush leaning against a rock wall. She hopped in with it and slid down to a secret passage.

She slid down into the small cavern. There were small torches they had lit in order to properly read the prophecy. She gave out a huge sigh as she looked around. It was incredibly dark. "Anybody here?"

A feminine voice moaned as it began to wake up. "Oh, Petilil…Good to see you're back, but can't you keep it down? Some of us need our beauty sleep."

Another voice called out. This one was male. "Oh, quit complaining. You shouldn't even be sleeping this early at night. We've still got work to do."

The feminine voice yawned. "As I'm very aware of. But we can't do much right now except guard the stone. It's not time yet."

Petilil rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I got some Poké from my recent mission. This should supply us with enough rations until the Eve of Pyrostorm," she said. "And thankfully, after months of tracking her down we were able to capture Zorua. She's in the custody of them now."

"Excellent," the male voice said. "Too bad we weren't about to catch _him_, but this a great start. If things keep going the way they are, we'll pass the Eve of Pyrostorm no problem." The voice sighed. "Though it'll be a little anticlimactic. And a waste of time."

"Oh come now. It's for the greater good," the feminine voice rebutted. "Now, it seems like everything is going well. We now where all our aces are, so if Arceus-forbid he would be successful we'll be ready for him."

Petilil nodded. "Here's hoping…"

* * *

**A/N:** Guys, I am sooooooooooo sorry this took as long it did. The pace this story is going is unacceptable. To me, anyway. It's mostly due to the fact that I have a lot on my plate and these chapters are so long. I don't know if they'll be shorter or not in the future, but here's hoping for faster updates. Don't worry; no matter how big the gap there is between chapters I fully plan on finishing this story start to finish.

So yes, I've set up a lot of unexplained questions so far. Some questions will be answered little by little until most of them will all come together in a big climax. Look forward to it. Until then. ;)


	6. A Sage's Request

**A/N:** No, this isn't an April Fool's Joke. This is an actual update. This has been dead for a while, hasn't it? Well, I'll talk more about that, but first, here's the chapter.

* * *

Tears blurring its vision, the baby Kangaskhan clutched the tree branch as hard as it could, fearing for its life. Despite being just an infant, it had managed to climb quite a distance up the tree after its mother allowed her eyes to stray from the child, not noticing that it had left her pouch and decided to take on the challenge of climbing the tree. It was a relatively easy climb, even for the infant, but eventually it reached a branch that snapped. There it now hung, close to completely snapping it two, as the Kangaskhan baby held onto the unstable branch, too afraid to even move.

The mother pleaded with her child to hold on tight, and another Pokémon next to her encouraged the same. The baby heard movement from behind her. Forcing her head to turn, she saw another Pokemon – a Treecko – stealthily climbing the tree to get the Kangaskhan to safety. The Treecko looked curiously at the branch, his hands and feet sticking to the side of the tree like glue, and noticed the distance from him and the Kangaskhan. Knowing that his own weight would cause the branch to snap, he needed the Kangaskhan to come to him. He motioned for the infant to do so, but the infant cried at the thought of moving an inch and buried its face in the branch, beginning to sob.

Marta shouted to her partner. "Bullet, c'mon! We're holding our breath down here!"

Bullet sighed. "This would be easier if your Vine Whip could reach her! Or maybe if YOU could climb up here!"

"Climbing is effortless for you. C'mon, how long are you going to make Kangaskhan worry?"

"Please sir, hurry!" the mother pleaded. "The branch could snap at any moment!"

Bullet sighed. "Everyone's a critic…" he muttered under breath. He turned his attention back to the infant, who once again turned to face the Treecko, tears staining its face. Bullet gave an encouraging smile to the infant and extended his hand. The Kangaskhan cringed at this motion, realizing he still had to move. "C'mon, it's not that far. You climbed all this way, didn't you? What's a few more inches to you? You're a brave one. My hand's right here, see? You can reach it."

The infant sniffled. The Treecko seemed rather kind and warm. The Kangaskhan felt like it could trust him. It motioned itself to turn around and began to stretch its tiny arms in an effort meet the Treecko's. The Treecko stretched his arm as well, sweating a little at the suspense. The Kangaskhan just had to move a bit more…

Just as safety seemed, quite literally, in reach, the branch finally gave way under the pressure and snapped in two. Everyone gasped in terror as both the branch and the Kangaskhan began to plummet toward the ground. Bullet tried to catch the catch the Kangaskhan in a vain effort, but felt himself slip from the tree. Thinking quickly, Marta extended her Vine Whips and wrapped them around the falling infant. She did so just in time, and both Marta and the mother gave a heavy sighed of relief, brushing off sweat from their foreheads. The peace was interrupted by a thud on the ground. Marta turned around and saw her partner had fallen from the tree and landed face-first on the ground.

"Oh my Arceus!" she gasped. "Are you OK, Bullet?!"

Bullet rolled over onto his back, rubbing his large, throbbing nose and grunting in pain. "Yeah, I'm fine…I'm gonna be sore for a while, though…"

Ignoring Bullet's possible injuries, the mother Kangaskhan grabbed her baby and barraged it with kisses, which caused the infant to giggle slightly, the flow of its tears now ceasing. Marta helped her friend off the ground and the mother turned to them, looking ecstatic. "Thank you ever so much! Squad Leaf, was it? I owe you a huge debt!"

Marta beamed at receiving praise for her work, as she usually did. To some this may come off as her letting her job get to her head, but it was rather that it reminded Marta that she could be of use and that she was able to make the world a better place, which made her overjoyed. "Oh, don't worry about it! We're always happy to help in any way we can! You didn't owe us anything."

"Yeah, tell that to my broken nose…" Bullet muttered, which earned him a scowl from Marta.

"Well, I at least owe you that reward I promised! I insist!"

After saying goodbye to the two Kangaskhans and accepting the reward, Squad Leaf began walking back to their cave. The dilemma conveniently took place in Tamira Forest, so the cave was not too far away.

The Normal Officers had been kept busy as of late. They were normally given jobs similar to the one they just dealt with, as the department was not confident with their rank to send them on more dangerous missions like capturing dangerous outlaws. However, this didn't mean they didn't get jobs to captures outlaws like petty thieves or disruptors of peace. Bullet would sometimes voice how he was a little frustrated they were not given the chance to prove they could take on harder stuff, as evidenced by their handling of Excadrill and his gang. However, Marta would usually bring up the Volcarona, and that would normally quell Bullet's ego a little.

Bullet would've never anticipated that he would be so motivated to do excel greater as a Pokémon Officer. It was something he just wanted to do for Marta at first, but he was genuinely having fun with it, and he loved helping Pokémon with Marta. Still, he felt he wasn't doing as much as he could. He wanted to get out there and stop Pokémon who were hurting each other. Plus, if he traveled around the world more, maybe he'd come across someone or something that would help with his memories. Marta herself was content with the jobs she was getting, as she wanted to help in any small way.

The two could see the waterfall in sight. Bullet began stretching as they approached their home. "Hey, it's almost lunchtime, right? Let's get so-Huh?"

The pair stopped when they noticed Pelipper flying toward their mailbox. Marta's home originally did not have a mailbox, but after it was required that the department needed a way to send them requests and jobs to accomplish, they made a makeshift mailbox out of some oak. It certainly wasn't pretty looking or…well constructed. Either way, it got the job done.

After chucking the mail in his beak into the mailbox, Pelipper left the area without a word. Marta rushed to the mailbox to find a single letter for them. She tore it open and read it to herself.

"It's from a Pokémon named 'Stoutland' in Kimora Town…Apparently, he's asking for our help. It doesn't say what he needs help with, just that it's urgent." Marta crossed her arms, pondering something. "Stoutland…I feel I've heard that name before." Eventually, the name clicked. "Oh, I remember! Absol told me about him. He's a famous sage in that town. Apparently a lot of Pokémon come to him looking for advice and knowledge. They say there isn't anything he doesn't know."

Marta was glad the info came rushing back to her, but she was still confused. "Why would someone like that ask for us? We're just Normal Officers. I don't think anyone would've heard of us yet…"

Bullet certainly wanted to believe that they were finally getting recognized, but even then someone sounding that important would probably enlist the help of someone of higher rank.

He shook his head. "Well, standing here isn't gonna give us the answer. Let's go see him. Is Kimora Town far from here?"

"No, it's not too far off. It's just up this way."

* * *

Bullet was impressed by the look of Kimora Town. All of the buildings had a more artistic design to them as opposed to the simplistic, mostly wooden treetop homes he was accustomed to seeing in Treetop Village. He wasn't aware Pokémon were able to make houses this nice looking. True, they weren't exactly on par with human homes, but they were still impressive looking.

"Man, this is a nice town…" Bullet thought aloud as Squad Leaf entered, passing by a few locals.

"Yeah, it's as nice as I heard it was!" Marta said, taking in the scenery. "This town is normally populated and visited by scholars on account of the famous library here. A lot of discoveries in the Pokémon world have been made here."

"The braniacs can be a little annoying sometimes, but this town is so beautiful I don't care!"

The duo turned about hearing a voice chime in on their conversation. A familiar face greeted them. "Oh, Kirlia!" Marta said upon recognizing her former fellow Apprentice. "I forgot that you lived here! How've you been?"

"Not bad. I've been keeping myself busy. Man, all this time I thought they were exaggeration when they said helping hands were few, but they keep piling on the work for me. They never seem to run out of jobs for me to do."

Kirlia wore a mischievous grin and playfully grabbed Marta, putting her in a chokehold. "How about you two, huh? You really surprised everyone, graduating right under their noses. Bayleef told me all about it. The way she described Axew's face when he found out…Man, I wish I had been there to see it!"

Marta laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, we didn't mean to keep it a secret for everyone. Exploud just thought it'd be better if we kept in on the downlow until we actually graduated. People might've gotten jealous…"

"Yeah, they would've thought you were getting special treatment," Kirlia said, releasing the Snivy. "But not me! You guys are pretty tough. I think Exploud made the right decision." She crossed her arms, and her smile faded for a moment. "I still kind of regret not being there when you guys helped out the Togepi family. I was just on a fetch quest, while you guys were already helping innocents before you even graduated. Makes me think my success doesn't have a lot of weight compared to yours…"

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. You did great," Bullet assured her. "I hear Malevolent Mountain gets a lot more dangerous the deeper you get into it. To make it that far deserves respect."

Kirlia chuckled. "Boy Bullet, you can really charm a girl, can't you? Well…thank you."

In the middle of their conversation, another figure approached the smaller Pokémon, walking along with extraordinary grace and holding a few books to her chest. Kirlia recognized the Pokémon and ran up to her. "Oh, hey Mom! You got more books? You seem to have your nose stuck in them a lot now."

Kirlia's mother responded with a gentle smile. "We should always follow the pursuit of knowledge, Kirlia. It's what keep our world afloat." The Pokémon turned to Squad Leaf. "Oh, are these your friends, dear?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kirlia shouted, realizing she hadn't introduced her friends. "Mom, this is Bullet and Marta. They're Squad Leaf, that team of Apprentices I told you about. You guys, this is my mother, Gardevoir."

Gardevoir gave them a warm smile. "It's so nice to meet you. I've heard you graduated rather quickly. You should be proud you've advanced so quickly."

Marta blushed a little. "Aw, it isn't that impressive. Really, you're too kind." Marta brushed off the comment and tried to change the subject. "So, your daughter is a Pokémon Officer now. Do you get a little worried about her?"

"A tinge of worry washes over me every now and again, yes, but I have every confidence in Kirlia," Gardevoir said, patting her daughter's head. "It's true she has a bit of a temper, can be a tad headstrong and doesn't always act like a proper lady, but she's very strong and has a wonderful heart.

Kirlia looked at her mother with irritation. "Ha, ha. I'm always a proper lady, Mother."

Gardevoir giggled. "I'm only teasing, dear." She turned her attention away from her daughter and to the Treecko. "Bullet, was it? My, we don't see a lot of Treeckos these days, now do we? They're usually not indigenous to this area. Don't you find that curious?"

Bullet was caught off guard and was a little confused by the question. "Um, I suppose…? Why do you ask?"

Gardevoir shook her head. "Forgive me. My question has no significance. Consider it the ramblings of a curious scholar." Despite seeming to discard the conversation topic, Bullet still saw the Gardevoir was looking curiously at him, which only furthered his confusion (and made him a tad uncomfortable). "Anyway, what brings you two here to our town?"

"Oh, right!" Marta remembered. "We're here to see Stoutland. Do you know where he lives?"

"Ah, of course." Gardevoir pointed toward a quaint little home down the way. "You'll find him in there. Anyhow, I'm afraid I'm a tad busy, so I cannot stay and continue chatting. It was nice meeting you, though. May we meet again."

With that, Gardevoir excused herself and went back on her way, still holding the books close to her chest. As she walked away, Bullet could've sword she looked back at him again from the corner of her eye. _Why does she keep doing that? Is there something on my face…? Or does she really find me being a Treecko that interesting…_

"Wow, your mother is so nice, Kirlia. And very pretty!" Marta gushed. "So, she's a scholar like everyone else here?"

"Oh, she's more than that," Kirlia said matter-of-factly. "She's a Silver Officer! She inspired me to get into the force. She's better than these bookworms who just stuff their noses in a book; she's out there making a difference! Anyway, it's been nice catching up, but I gotta jet! You guys are busy too right? I'll see you later!" Kirlia darted off, waving goodbye as she did.

* * *

Marta stared idly at the cup of tea that had been politely presented to her. She and Bullet sat on the floor next to each other merely staring at the cups on the small table, with their host, Stoutland, intently enjoying his own cup on the other side of them (Bullet was actually impressed that a creature with paws could hold a cup of tea so effortlessly. It was an impressive sight). Disrupting this seemingly peaceful scene was the presence of a pacing Herdier, who did not seem too pleased that the three were lounging around in the home.

Stoutland lowered his tea and saw that his guests were not partaking in his tea. "Is the tea not to your liking?" he said in a low and raspy voice.

"Oh!" Marta said. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It's very nice, thank you." Marta extended her Vine Whip and wrapped it around the cup, lifting the cup to her lips and taking a sip. To be honest, she wasn't a fan of the taste. She just wanted to be polite.

Bullet was the first one to point out the Donphan in the room. "Stoutland, sir? Um, would you mind explaining why you brought us here?"

"Yeah, Dad!" The Herdier suddenly interjected, slamming his paws on the table, effectively shattering any peace that was left in the house. "Aren't you the least bit worried?! It doesn't seem so, seeing as you're having yourself a tea party!"

Stoutland kept his calm composure. "Of course I'm worried, son. I merely thought I would be hospitable to the guests whose presence I requested on such short notice. There is no need to act so brash."

"I have every right to act brash!" Herdier argued. "What they did was unforgivable!"

"With all due respect, sir," Marta interjected, "I'd rather we skip the formalities and hospitalities and get to the matter at hand. I mean, if something has happened that's a cause for worry, we'd like to fix it as quick as we can."

Stoutland sighed. "Very well. I suppose you are right." Stoutland lifted himself up, walking across the room with his frail bones. It was strange to think that this weak old Pokémon had once been an adventurer in days past. All but a little of his strength had left him, and he was left only with his vast intellect, honed from seeing many wonders from many adventures. Stoutland rummaged through his belongings and produced a letter for Squad Leaf to read. Marta accepted the letter and read it for her partner to hear:

"_Dear Old Man, if you still have the eyesight to read this, read carefully: I have your grandson. Don't worry, the little scamp is perfectly fine. Not a hair out of place. If you'd like to keep it that way, bring the following amount of Poké shown below to the middle of Shady Grove within forty-eight hours. One condition to this: the Pokémon to give me this ransom must be Squad Leaf. If anyone else shows up, your precious Lillipup may have a little…accident. So no telling the any other officers at Magnezone Prison. I'll be waiting, oldie. Sincerely, None-Of-Your-Business."_

Bullet and Marta were both left speechless. Ever impatient, Herdier didn't want to wait for them to collect their thoughts and spoke up. "I have no idea why this guy wants you two, but I don't care! I'll give him whatever he wants, so long as my son is OK!"

"There is no need to act rashly, my son," Stoutland lectured his son. "I am just as concerned about my grandson as you are, but it doesn't take a scholar to realize this is an obvious trap."

"Not to mention this makes zero sense," Bullet added, folding his arms. "Why does this guy want us to make the transaction?"

"A theory comes to mind. I fear this whole endeavor is a means to trap you two, and our family got caught up in this disaster."

"Somebody…wants to trap us?" Marta said, tilting her head. "But who? We don't know anyone who would hold a grudge against us. Are you sure about that?"

"As I said, it's only a theory. It may be that this ruffian merely wanted to make sure a Normal Officer carried out this transaction, thinking they'd be easy to mug. Of course, that would still leave the question of how this kidnapper learned of your identity. I've heard you just recently joined the force, so I doubt you've yet to make a popular name for yourselves as officers yet. Not to downplay your abilities."

"Even if we don't claim that you're weak," Herdier added, "we still thought we'd be more at ease trusting someone of higher rank. You must understand that my son's life is at risk, so I can't just trust two newbies fresh out of the Academy." The comment came as a blow of confidence to the pair, but they kept it to themselves. "So we already contacted the department to get help from someone who works well with undercover work. That way you can carry out the transaction and they can clean up if something should go wrong."

Stoutland cleared his throat. "Not that we don't believe you could handle a sour situation." The scholar glared at his son for being so blunt and rude. "Still, back-up is always a nice thing to have. Anyway, I believe you two should be introduced to him."

Squad Leaf looked around the room, a tad confused. "Um…Where is he?" Bullet asked.

"Right in plain sight! I'm good, aren't I?" Before Squad Leaf could react to the voice, they were taken aback when the small table they were just sitting around turned into a Ditto. The cups on the table shattered as the table turned to a small blob, causing tea to spill on the floor. The Ditto laughed sheepishly. "Heh, sorry. You guys did put hot cups of tea on me and slam your paws on me, so I guess we're even." Though Ditto had a point, Stoutland still sighed. "Anyway, Gold Officer Ditto, at your service! When Stoutland called, considering he's pretty important around these parts, the department sent one of their best undercover officers for the job: me!"

"Oh, come now," Stoutland shook his head. "I'm of no import in this town. I'm merely a rambling old man."

"Humble, ain't he?" Ditto said, sliding up Squad Leaf. "His knowledge of the world has helped a lot of Pokémon and officers. We're always willing to help him. We can't let some Normal Officer newbies take on a job for such an important guy, can we?"

"Hey!" Bullet retaliated. "We're perfectly capable of doing this! We don't need some blob's help!"

"Oh ho, aren't you cute? You're leagues behind me, kid!" Ditto laughed at Bullet, which only made the Treecko angrier. Marta tried to urge her partner to calm down, while the Herdier just snarled at the scene, seeing it as a waste of precious time.

Once again, Stoutland cleared his throat. "If we're done acting like children, I'd like to continue," he said, glaring at Ditto and Bullet, who both looked rather embarrassed with themselves. "My son and I gathered the necessary funds for this transaction. You should make preparations and leave whenever you can."

"Like now," Herdier said, earning another sigh from his father.

Marta nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, we'll get Lillipup back. I promise you."

Ditto stretched his stubby arms around Squad Leaf, pulling them close to his gelatinous form. "I was just messin' with you guys!" he said with a oafish grin. "Let's do great out there, alright?"

"Yeah, sure…" Bullet said. _Jeez, this guy's almost as goofy as Sudowoodo._

* * *

The sound of chomping and slurping filled the usually silent cell. The small convict, Zorua, was curled in her bed, trying to drown out the sound of eating and take a nap. However, this was all in vain. In all her life she had never known anymore more messy and loud an eater than her cellmate, Bidoof. Finally able to take no more, Zorua turned to the pudgy Bidoof and scolded him. "Honestly, can you eat _any_ louder?!"

The Bidoof, looking up from the rations of food he had snuck away from the cafeteria earlier, stared blankly at Zorua. "I eat loud? I didn't notice. But then again, I don't much care."

Bidoof continued to munch on his snack, and Zorua groaned. "Honestly, you're such a fat slob. It amazes me that you'd be of any use."

Bidoof looked up from his rations once again, looking rather smug. "Of course I'm of use! I'm the only one who knows an easy way out of this dingy prison, and everyone respects me for it!"

Zorua snickered. "Respect you, huh? Is that why you had to be moved to this cell? Because your past cellmates 'respected' you too much?" Zorua continued to laugh, but the memories of Charizard and Politoed just made Bidoof cringe. He returned to his snack, too angry to continue talking to Zorua. As much as he knew deep down he had none of the cellmate's respect, he still felt he deserved it. If they're so much better than he was, why didn't they just escape themselves? It was clear who was the better Pokemon. Just in the mental aspect, and not...anywhere close in the physical aspect. Still, that counted for something didn't it?

Zorua sighed and turned to her thoughts. _Still…I guess I owe that Bidoof. He got __**him**__ out of here, didn't he? I was amazed to see him. It must've been fate that we be put in the same cell. Maybe he can do something about those twerps that put me in here. Then we wouldn't have to worry about their meddling… _She prayed that her father was faring well, though she knew she had nothing to worry about. It pained her that she failed to be there for him when the hour of import was so hastily approaching. It was just another reason the meddlers needed to pay.

Meanwhile, in another section of Magnezone Prison, Smeargle was frantically running around the facility, holding a document in his hand. He was trying to find someone he could trust with dire news. The first he came across was Absol. Smeargle was actually a little reluctant to approach the Special Officer. She could be scary sometimes, and he feared her reaction to his news. But it was an emergency, and his job was on the line. He called her name. "Absol! Over here, quick!"

Absol turned to her fellow officer in confusion. "What's the matter, Smeargle? You seem tense. Did you misplace one of your favorite paintings again?"

"No, it's worse!" Smeargle insisted. "Well, actually, that's debatable. But that's beside the point! Listen, I was doing rollcall, and, and…!"

Absol was afraid she knew where this was going. "Oh, dear…Again, Smeragle?"

Smeargle instinctively bowed in submission to Absol, despite her not being his superior, looking very apologetic. "I-I'm sorry! I don't know how this keeps happening!"

Absol sighed. "I can think of a reason…" Absol shook her head, focusing on the more important issue. "Let's sound the alarm. We'll find Bido-"

"No!" Smeargle insisted. "This is the second time in a row this has happened! If Magnezone finds out, he'll have my head on a platter! Please Absol, help me out here! I come to you a Pokémon down on his luck!"

Absol was rather opposed to helping clean up a mess this big, but she couldn't say no to such a desperate plea, no matter how pathetic it was. It was true just letting Smeargle learn from his mistake would be a more wise decision, but Absol couldn't helping being generous. Perhaps too generous. "Fine, I'll help…"

Smeargle relaxed a little. "Thanks, Absol! You're my hero!" Smeargle directed Absol to his document. "By the way, it wasn't Bidoof that escaped. Here, check the list. The one who escaped is the one who isn't marked."

Absol analyzed the attendance sheet. Upon finding the unmarked name, her jaw hung and she staggered back in horror, much to the confusion of Smeargle. "N-No…Not him…Anyone but him…!"

* * *

Shady Grove was an easy dungeon for the team to clear. The Pokémon that were native to the area weren't a challenge for them at all. The writer of the letter left no indication of where in the dungeon they wanted to meet, but the most logical spot would be in the deepest part of it. Ditto made no effort to help the team clear the wild Pokémon that showed up. He kept in the shadows, in case the kidnapper was watching their movements. Ditto did such a good job that halfway through the pair almost suspected they left Ditto in the dust.

After getting in pretty deep, a clearing came into view. It was there that they found what they were looking for: Lillipup. He stood there in the middle of the clearing, looking fearful for his life. When he saw the squad, he didn't seem excited to see a friendly face. Instead, he seemed dreadful, as if some disaster was imminent, triggered by the mere presence of the two .

Everything about the scene didn't seem to make sense, but Marta cast the obvious questions aside and stepped forward. "You're Lillipup, right?" The Lillipup nodded meekly, and Marta sighed with relief. "Thank goodness you're OK! Your Dad and Grandpa are so worried about you!"

Bullet stepped up next to his partner. "You _are_ not hurt anywhere, right? Where's the one who took you?"

Bullet and Marta took a second to look around. There seemed to be no one around them. What was more odd was that Lillipup wasn't tied up or trapped or anything of the sort. Nothing about the scene indicated a ransom scene. Lillipup just seemed like a child who lost his way after separating from his parents.

As they pondered what was happening, Lillipup shouted at the two. "LOOK OUT!"

"SUPRIIISE!"

Before the two could properly react to Lillipup's outburst and the voice that suddenly came from behind them, they found themselves pinned down after something crashed on top of them. It turned out to be a Pokémon that stood atop Squad Leaf, trying to hold them down. When the two turned to the assailant, Marta gasped, looking as though she had seen a ghost. "Ya miss me, sport?"

"S-Scrafty?!"

The shock of this entire scene hit Bullet as well when he heard Marta say that name. _Scrafty?! The same Scrafty from Marta's story?! What's going on here?! _As this scene began to unfold, beeping from both Bullet and Marta's badges could be heard. Upon hearing this, Scrafty stole them for their belongings and proceeded to crush the badges.

"Boy, that was annoying, eh?" Scrafty said with a sinister grin. "Pretty rude of 'em ta just cut in on our little reunion, don't ya think?" Marta sneered at him, which only fueled the pure pleasure Scrafty got from the scene. "Now then, let's get down te-"

Scrafty was suddenly interrupted by a blow to the head from behind, causing him to stagger forward, freeing Squad Leaf from beneath his heels. Scrafty regained his composure and sighed, staring at Ditto, who now took on Scrafty's form. He didn't seem very threatened by the Gold Officer. "Reinforcements? I thought we had come ta an agreement. How sad."

Ditto quickly pounced on the outlaw with a Hi Jump Kick, but it was swiftly dodged, causing massive recoil damage to the Gold Officer, and was followed by a Head Smash from the convict, immediately taking out the Ditto. Both Lillipup and Squad Leaf were in awe at how quickly the Gold Officer had fallen. However, that still didn't shake Squad Leaf's will. They looked prepared to take on Scrafty.

Scrafty had the utmost confidence in himself that he could win a fight against the chumps that lay before him, looking every so confident in themselves. However, he decided to weasel his way out of the fight with a more underhanded tactic. Scrafty saw that Lillipup had cowered behind a rock when the first sign of trouble arose. The convict grabbed the child and dragged him close, charging up a powerful attack in his other fist.

"Now, you chumps could fight me," Scrafty said with confidence, "but if ya tried ta strike me, I can't promise the safety of this here munchkin."

Squad Leaf staggered back in surprise and Lillipup looked more frightened than before, tears now beginning to flow down his eyes. The team was at a loss, wondering how to handle the situation. If they didn't fight, Scrafty would take them out. If they did fight, Lillipup could be a goner. There was no simple solution, and it seemed like a lose-lose situation.

Scrafty snickered to himself. It was so amusing to see the chumps acting like big heroes for some little twerp they had never met, just as he had predicted. It was almost sad how easy it was to manipulate their pathetic 'code of ethics.' They were walking into their own downfall, it was a price they paid for not smartening up and realizing that the only ones who get ahead in the world are those who look after themselves.

Squad Leaf laid down their arms, and Scrafty took this as his opportunity to strike. He unleashed the Focus Punch he was charging at Marta's little Treecko buddy, and the sheer power launched Bullet into the nearest tree, and he fell to the floor unconscious. Marta saw Scrafty push Lillipup aside, and it seemed like a good time to strike. She was of course concerned for her partner's well being, but to completely ensure it she had to get rid of the threat to it, which at present was Scrafty. However, before Marta could strike, Scrafty was quick to grab Marta by the neck and slam her against a tree. He enjoyed seeing her squirm against the tree.

"Man, it's nice that we get a chance ta talk now that there're no distractions," Scrafty said. "How ya been. Marta, ain't it? Don't think I don't remember ya? The little village brat that squealed on me to those Special Officer friends of yours."

Marta tried to choke out words while Scrafty squeezed her neck. "Y…You blame me? Th…they would've caught you…with or without me…!"

Scrafty chuckled. "Maybe yer right. Then again, I could've scampered off when the flames started and those officers would've been too busy doing damage control to worry about searching for ol' me." Scrafty's tone began to change from mocking to that of anger. "It was supposed to be an easy job! You village nimwits were so easy to fool! You ruined that for me, you little twerp! You and your little officer pals! I had to spend the last few years wasting away in that prison!"

Marta got more frustrated and continued to struggle. "Y…You ruined…my life…!"

Scrafty collected his composure once more and grinned mischievously at the young officer. "Did I now? Well, I'm afraid that don't much matter now, considering yer not gonna have any life after this." Marta's frustration melted away as it transformed into fear. "I'll admit, you weren't exactly on the top of my hit list. I was gonna take out those Special Officers first. Still, I suppose you could say I made a little promise to someone."

"A…promise…?" Marta managed to squeak out.

"I ain't one for normally keepin' promises, but since you were already oh my ta-do list, I thought I could keep just this one. Someone apparently wants you and yer little Treecko pal out of the picture, see? I don't know why, but I ain't one to question 'em. It's because of 'em I get the chance to wring yet lil neck, so they scratch my back, I scratch theirs. So I'm gonna finish off you, and then yer pal, and, hey, maybe I'll even take care of that lil Lillipup over there. You _did_ break yer promise after all. I can no longer keep my end of the bargain."

The threat was enough to push Marta over the edge. She managed to get out her vines and whip Scrafty in the face. This did nothing but get Scrafty aggravated, and he knocked the Snivy out with a headbutt. "Lil brat…!" Scrafty seethed.

As this scene unfolded, Bullet had managed to awaken slightly. However, his body refused to move and he could barely keep his eyes open. It pained him that he couldn't do anything to stop Scrafty and just watch his friend look helpless. _Marta…No…I…I'm sorry…I'm too weak…_

"_**Of course you are."**_

_H-Huh…?_ As Bullet began to fade back into darkness, he could hear a faint voice in the back of his head. _Is that…a voice? _

"_**You are weak. Allow me to change that."**_

_Change…that…? Who…What are…_

"_**Ease your mind. Let me take over. Let me in."**_

Bullet could not argue with the voice, or question it. Instead his body shut down, as Scrafty held the unconscious body of Marta. He seemed rather satisfied with himself. "Man, that was almost too easy," he boasted to himself. "Time to finish the job."

Scrafty was prepared to end it when he felt an aching sensation in his head. He groaned as he clutched his head. Before he knew it, the world around him began to warp, and he suddenly found himself in a mass of darkness. He scanned the area swiftly, muddled and a tad frightened. "Wh-What the…?"

"_**You are a pathetic being. Nothing but a mere coward."**_

An ominous and threatening voice echoed in the mind of the outlaw. He began to search more frantically for the source of whatever was messing with him when he suddenly felt a sharper pain in his head, causing him to let go of Marta. "Wh..What? ! What're ya talkin' about? ! Who are ya? Show yerself!"

"_**You shall not interfere. These pawns have a role to play yet. You do not. You are mere trash littered on the path. You must be disposed of."**_

Scrafty clenched his teeth and began to seethe as the voice threw out more taunts and the pain in his head grew as the voice continued to speak. "I…I ain't trash! Yer the only trash 'ere buddy! Ya COWARD! Stop dese mind games before I-"

"_**Sleep."**_

Suddenly, Scrafty's mind went completely numb, and all feeling in his body went with it as it shut down, his being collapsing on the floor of the grove. The catastrophic scene that had unfolded in mere moments had ceased, the only remnants of if the unconscious bodies the now littered the floor. However, not everyone was unconscious.

Lillipup stood frozen in fear, looking at his now fainted captor. He wondered why the outlaw that seemed to be winning suddenly collapsed without warning. From his standpoint, Scrafty just seemed to suddenly be muttering like a madman to himself before falling over. Looking around more, Lillipup noticed one Pokémon was not unconscious. The Treecko that had accompanied the Snivy was up, merely standing there. The young pup could tell something was amiss. The Treecko didn't seem like the same Treecko who seemed friendly and was concerned for Lillipup. Instead, now he seemed cold and threatening. He was hunched over and looking at the ground with a blank and cold stare. Lillipup didn't want to get close to the Treecko, as he seemed to have this…dark aura around him.

The Treecko took a step forward, but looked as though he struggled to do so. Advancing only a few inches, the Treecko stopped and spoke to himself. "I see…" he said in a gruff voice. "It's as I feared. I cannot retain control for long, especially not with _her_ holding me back." The Treecko gave an unnatural grin that sent a chill down Lillipup's spine. "No matter. I do not require control over this frail body. The odds will be in my favor soon enough…"

Bullet suddenly collapsed like a puppet whose strings were cut. The dark aura vanished from him. Almost immediately afterward, Ditto, who was now back to his gelatinous form, awoke from his short comatose state. He looked around and saw Lillipup run to him, sobbing with relief that someone non-scary was awake. Ditto was relieved to see Lillipup was alright, but he didn't have time to comfort the child.

Ditto took out his badge and used it to contact for help. "This is Gold Officer Ditto. Assistance is requested in Shady Grove. Two officers down, one injured. I repeat…"

* * *

Happiny bandaged the wound on Marta's forehead after she finished her Oran Berry to regain her strength. Bullet was thankful that he had no broken bones from the Focus Punch, but he could still feel the soreness from it. It was a tad embarrassing to get knocked out from one punch, but had it been a fair fight there was no way that Focus Punch would hit Bullet. At least, he'd like to think that.

The infirmary was certainly quite crowded. Bullet and Marta sat next to each other on a bed as the two Happiny assistants tended to their wounds. Absol was talking with Audino, who assured the worried Officer again and again that Marta was going to make a full recovery and should be able to leave before sunset. Magnezone himself was there to deliver new Normal Badges to Squad Leaf. He stopped to talk to Ditto, who recovered nicely, and learn more about the situation. Though Ditto himself was a little hazy on the details. Stoutland, Herdier and Lillipup were there as well, having a nice reunion and there to see the officers well.

A Pokémon burst into the infirmary, garnering everyone's attention. It was Sudowoodo, who ran to his Snivy buddy and gave her a constricting hug. "Oh, Marta! Are you OK?! I thought you were a goner!"

Tears cascaded like a waterfall down the Sudowoodo's eyes as Marta became short of breath from the tight hug. "I-I'm fine…Sudowoodo…But I won't be if you keep this up…!"

The sorrow on Sudowoodo's face and the stream of tears ceased suddenly, as though they never existed, and a cheery expression replaced them. "Oh, good!" he cheered, releasing the Snivy. "I'm glad that slime didn't cause any serious damage to you. If he did, oh boy, he'd be in for a WORLD OF HURT!"

Sudowoodo began acting like a boxer, throwing fake punches as though he were beating up Scrafty. A few people in the room had to sigh or roll their eyes. Marta was really the only one to laugh at the display. She was just grateful to be around light hearted souls after what she had to relive…

Absol approached Marta, looking very apologetic. "Marta, I'm so sorry this had to happen. I should've realized sooner Scrafty escaped…I…"

Herdier stepped up as well. "No, it's me who should be apologizing. I was too impatient in getting my son back. I sent you into danger without thinking. I just—"

"It's my fault, ma'am!" Lillipup interjected, not wanting his father to take all the blame. Everyone was surprised, as Lillipup had mostly been silent until that point, most likely from shock. "I shoulda ran away a while ago! He didn't tie me up 'cus he said he knew I wouldn't dare run! But I should've! I was so scared that I could barely move, and-"

"Please don't blame yourselves," Marta urged. "Nobody could've known this would happen. Your son is the one who got caught up in our trap, Herdier. We should be apologizing."

"If anyone should be at blame, it should be Smeargle. ZZZT!" Magnezone interjected. "I have half a mind to fire that idiot painter, but he's much too skilled in battle to let go. ZZZT! But I'll see to it he is punished, don't you worry! ZZZT!"

"Well, it doesn't matter whose fault it was. Let's just be glad it's all over," said Bullet. Everyone agreed. Despite resolving that issue, other things plagued Bullet's mind. "Y'know…I'm glad we all got out of there safely, but…does anyone remember what happened?"

Marta tilted her head, beginning to wonder the same thing. "Oh, yeah…I kinda blacked out, and when I came to I was being cared to. Ditto, did you take down Scrafty?"

"Not me," Ditto said, a little ashamed to admit it. "I was just explaining to Magnezone that I have no idea what happened. I was knocked out instantly and didn't get up until it was all over."

"Mr. Treecko, you know what happened right?" Everyone's attention turned to Lillipup once more. "You saw it with me…When the scary man was muttering to himself before collapsing?"

Bullet just looked even more muddled than when he posed the question. "He just…collapsed? I didn't see that at all…I was unconscious."

"Liar!" Lillipup protested. "I saw you! You were standing there looking all scary, muttering to yourself and everything, and then you collapsed just like the scary man!"

"Scary…looking…?" Bullet was at a complete loss for words. _There's no way that happened. I remember. I was losing consciousness, and then…_ His memory of that moment clicked back into his head. _…then I heard this weird voice. What was the voice? Does that voice have anything to do with what Lillipup saw? Was someone else there with us? I can't wrap my head around this…_

"I pray you're not lying, Bullet."

A voice interrupted Bullet's thoughts. It was Absol, who wasn't looking as friendly as before. Instead Absol seemed to be staring into the very soul of Bullet, as though she were trying to ascertain something about his character. It made Bullet rather uncomfortable, but Absol ignored his surprised and somewhat scared expression. Absol couldn't stop the twitching of her horn, which began to twitch more every time she got closer to Bullet.

Marta seemed a little peeved about the obvious antagonizing. "I believe Bullet," she said firmly. Absol saw that Marta gave Absol a glare of her own, and that was enough to get Absol to back off…for now.

Lillipup pouted. "Dad, Grandpa, you believe me right? I saw it all! I know I did!"

Stoutland patted the youth's head. "Now, now, child. It doesn't matter who is right. What matters is you are safe once more."

Lillipup didn't look satisfied. "That's a copout answer…"

Bullet cleared his throat, hoping to shake off the intense and infamous Absol stare. "Well, aside from that mystery, there's one thing I remember before drifting off. Scrafty said that he attacked us because somebody wanted us dead…"

That came as a surprised to most. "Wh-what?!" Sudowoodo cried. "Somebody put a hit on you guys? Why?"

"He didn't say…He didn't even say who it was…"

"If I may. ZZZT!" Everyone's attention turned to Magnezone. "Upon reviewing Scrafty's info, you may find it interesting to note that one of Scrafty's recent roommates was Zorua. ZZZT! The same Zorua you captured during the Gargos Temple incident. ZZZT!"

"I see. It would make sense for Zorua to hold a vendetta against you and asked for your death," Absol said, a bit more at ease knowing the one to give the hit was safely behind bars. She could be at ease knowing no more assassins would come after Squad Leaf.

"Man, what scum!" Bullet complained. "First she takes my form and makes me a thief, and then she tries to get me and my friends killed! What's her deal?"

"Hey, who knows Bullet?" Sudowoodo said, patting the Treecko hard on the back with a goofy grin. "Maybe she's just crazy stalker admirer of yours just trying to get your attention!"

Bullet sighed at the completely ridiculous logic. "Yeah, wishful thinking there…"

Audino finished conversing with her Happiny assistants in the corner, avoiding all the commotion that suddenly disrupted their quaint little infirmary. "Anyhow," Audino said with a polite smile, "I'm glad you all are recovered, but I think you three should stay here tonight. I just want to make sure you're all completely-"

"No," Marta said simply. Everyone turned to her in surprise. She looked at everyone with a sad smile. "I just…want to go home, if that's OK."

The mood in the air suddenly turned somber. Bullet could tell that she was hiding something. _Marta…_

An hour or so passed as everyone began to leave. Only Absol, Squad Leaf and the nurses were left in the room. Eventually, Audino allowed the team to leave and the Happiny wished them well in complete unison. Marta was the first to leave the infirmary, followed by Bullet. Before he could leave the room, he felt something hold his tail down. He turned to see Absol, looking rather scary.

"Bullet," she said firmly. "You were telling us the whole truth, right? You're an officer of the law, and Marta's partner. I'd hate to think you were taking those things for granted…and doing anything you regret.

Bullet was caught completely by surprise by this interrogation. Frankly, he didn't know how to respond. "I…No, ma'am. I don't take those things lightly at all. Maybe my memory is just a bit hazy. Trust me, I wouldn't lie."

Absol merely stared him down for a while, the twitching of her horn not going away. The confrontation felt something like decades to Bullet, as the stare and intensity of the scene made him think Absol would pounce on him as any moment. Eventually, Absol took her paw off the Treecko's tail and left without a word.

_What was that all about? Does Absol not like me? What did I do to tick her off?_

* * *

"_Wha…..…ou…..…y?"_

"_**perfectly fine."**_

"…_.o…...ap…...oo…...?...ha….!"_

"_**you must calm down. i need you to listen to me."**_

"_Of….en...…e?"_

"_**that's right. now listen very carefully. i need you to-"**_

"**DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! !"**

Bullet awoke to the roaring waterfall, practically screaming. He panted in short breaths as beads of sweat rolled down his neck. Upon recognizing his surroundings, he sighed with relief. _These dreams…they're starting to get worse. They're becoming nightmares…_

He turned to Marta's bed, realizing that the Pokémon wasn't there. He wasn't worried, as he had a good idea of where she was. Exiting the cave, Bullet saw his partner sitting at the edge of the lake. He strolled over to her and took a seat next to her. "Some day, huh?"

Marta looked to Bullet. Looking into her eyes, he could see they were a bit puffy. She had been crying. Despite this, she kept a welcoming smile. "Yeah. I guess it was."

Bullet couldn't bear to see his friend so obviously upset. "Marta, is something wrong? You can tell me. I'll listen."

Marta stared at her reflection in the lake. She heaved a weary sigh, wondering where to begin. "I've been so selfish, Bullet. I thought what I was doing was helping others, but the more I got into this, I realized that wasn't the whole truth."

"What are you talking about?"

Marta closed her eyes, tilting her head to the sky before opening her eyes once more. "I began to realize this after I told you the story of my past. I was so helpless in that situation. I hated that feeling; the feeling of being so weak that I couldn't do anything. Instead I was the one who had to be saved. So I dedicated my life to getting stronger. So I wouldn't have to feel weak ever again. That feeling of wanting to be strong formed into my dream of being an Officer. Being able to save others...I must've felt deep down that would've made me feel strong. It would make me feel like I had worth."

Marta sighed before continuing. "On the night we got accepted as Officers, you know that I felt really angry. It was beginning to sink in that my selfish desires for strength weren't being realized. We only passed because Absol intervened. I was still being treated like a child who needed help, and that got me frustrated. I started forgetting about it as we kept helping people on the job, but what really pushed it over the top…was today. I couldn't fight him…I couldn't do anything! I almost let him take my life! He...He would've taken it all from me again! I…!" Tears began to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Bullet. I'm not the noble officer I tried to act like. I'm just…a selfish weakling…"

Bullet instantly got his feet and shouted at Marta in protest. "Don't ever say that!" Marta looked at him in surprise. "I know you, Marta. You're not as selfish as you think you are. You're big hearted, and you truly care for others. I know you do!"

"Bullet…I…I just saved Pokémon to feel good about myself…I…"

"Is that what you did with me?" That shut Marta up. "I know you didn't do that for yourself. You took me in when I didn't have a place to go. You believed me when I said I was a human. You believed me today when everyone accused me of lying. I know you didn't do all that to feel better about yourself. It's because you were worried about me, right?"

"I…I was…" Marta admitted.

"Think about everyone we've saved or helped up to this point. I know you were thinking of them above yourself. I could tell. You helped so many Pokémon, Marta. And to them, you're the strongest there is."

"But…!" Marta stood up as well now. "I didn't do that myself! I don't have any of my own strength! I've had to rely on others!"

"And?" Marta was once again silenced. "Marta, true strength doesn't come from just you. It comes from those around you; the people who give you the courage and will to go on. That's what you give me as well. I don't think I'd be able to take suddenly turning into a Pokémon in stride if you hadn't been there for me every step of the way. Absol, Sudowoodo, all our friends…they're there to give us strength. And together we'll overcome any challenge that comes our way. Don't let a minor failure get in your way. If anyone called you a weakling, I'd knock them out! You're the strongest, most noble hearted Pokémon I know. Just because you need help doesn't change that. Everyone needs help, including you and me. We can be strong together."

Tears continued to roll down Marta's face. However these tears were not ones of self loathing. Instead they were tears of pure joy. "Bullet...!" She whipped her tears away and began to laugh. "Oh man! I've been such an idiot, haven't I? I've been so stuck in the past that I didn't realize what a bright future I had ahead of me, and it's all been made possible because you and everyone else is giving me strength! It's because I've gotten all this help that I can offer help to others, right? That's what you're trying to tell me. You're totally right, too!"Bullet was thrilled to see his partner back in high spirits. Seeing her so down just seemed completely out of character for her. "OK, Bullet! No more wallowing! We'll go forward together, and we'll help each other out."

"Alright! Tomorrow we're going to do our best, just like we always do!"

"You know it!" The two pumped their fists into the air. Despite the ecstatic air the permeated the air, the two suddenly began to feel sleepy. They yawned in unison, and that just made them laugh. "Well, we need a good night's rest for that. Let's head back to bed."

Bullet nodded. He allowed Marta to go ahead first. Upon taking a few steps, she stopped and turned to her friend. "Say, Bullet, have you been remembering anything lately? We haven't really learned anything about you lately, and that's a little upsetting."

Bullet thought for a moment. _It's true. I haven't learned anything about myself really. I just keep getting more questions with no answers. I suppose the only clues I have are those dreams—Oh! I never told Marta about my dreams. _

Bullet began to tell Marta all that he remembered from the dreams he's had over the months. She was surprised to say that least. "Really? You've been having these dreams that you think are about you and a friend? And you think these dreams are actually your memories?" This was the best news Marta could hear. "That's so great! It sounds like you're making some progress!"

"I suppose…" Bullet said, looking not as sure or thrilled as his partner. "Though the dreams are getting more mysterious lately. I assumed that they'd get clearer as I possibly learned more from them, but the opposite is happening. Now the dreams feel like nightmares, and I can barely hear any of the voices in them."

Marta seemed a tad disappointed by that. "I wonder why...Maybe it's because your mind isn't able to process all these memories yet?"

"But why would that be…?" The more the two thought about it, the more confused they got. They just sighed and agreed that it was best that they wait and see if the dreams shed any new light eventually.

"I hope you regain your memories soon, Bullet," Marta said with sincerity. "I really wanna know what kind of person you were in the human world. I'm sure you were kind and thoughtful like you are right now!"

Bullet gave an embarrassed laugh. "I'd assume so…"

Marta wished Bullet pleasant dreams as she returned to the cave and her bed, feeling as though a huge weight was lifted from her chest. It was true that she couldn't just get rid of the past so quickly. It would still linger with her for a while. But she knew that with her friends by her side, the troublesome past didn't seem so scary. In the end, her past didn't matter. All that mattered was the future she could help shape by helping those in need. In the end, that was all she wanted to do.

Bullet looked toward the broken moon. He sometimes forgot it was there. Whenever he looked at the unnatural phenomenon in the sky, he felt a feeling of dread; as though the mere presence of the looming fragments were foretelling of grim things to come. There were still so many mysteries clouding his mind. What did happen to the moon? Why did he become a Pokémon? Why did he lose his memories? What was the voice in his head? Zorua said he had a purpose in this world. He never forgot those words. What purpose did he have?

Bullet couldn't help but feel that something was coming crashing toward him; something that would endanger those around him. Whatever it was, Bullet knew he had to handle it. So long as his friends to support him. Of course, he'd never want to mix them up in a terrible crisis, but he knew he could count on them for anything if he ever needed them.

* * *

**A/N:** First off, I wanna say how genuinely sorry I am that this chapter took as long as it did. I mean, it's been A YEAR AND A HALF. That's way too long. I'm sure many of you have lost interest by now, and if you have I don't blame you. A lot of factors play into why this was this was delayed so long, but I won't bore you with the details. What I will say, however, is that I may go back and re-write a few chapters. These re-writes won't affect any of the events that have happened thus far, but if in the off chance they do, I'll inform you guys.

If you're still willing to follow this story, thank you very much. I'll try not to let you guys down again. Despite it having been so long, I still remember all my ideas for this story and nothing should be different. Also, I'm loving Gates to Infinity and I think I'm close to beating it. I'm a little disappointed about the lack of Pokemon diversity and choices but it has the same heart to it and it's still the same game with the same light-hearted story that I fell in love with. GtI may be referenced in this story but the rest of the plot will have no influence in the major events of this story. Also, there will be no Gen 6 characters in this fic, when and if this fic is still going when Gen 6 comes out. Victini in GtI makes me lol at how he's the polar opposite of my Victini. Then again, my Victini was meant to be the most ironic badass. :P

I'm looking forward to the next chapter, as I think I'll have a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you will all have fun reading it. Until then.


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